


Eyes blue like Aphrodite

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Angst, Confident Eren, Death, Eren is Clever, Extreme angst, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Fluff, Gay, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Greek gods, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Mermaids, Mikasa is clever, Nervous Levi, Original Characters - Freeform, Prophecy, War, also war i guess, does anyone even read these, eren is magic, ereri, fae, greek godesses, greek parthenon, i will add more lol, levi is short, magical eren, magical levi, original characters later, original creatures, riren - Freeform, unsure levi, war between gods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25979785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Levi Ackerman moved away from his family, away from everything he’s ever known, he didn’t expect to be pulled into a war between the gods by a beautiful man with green eyes and magic beyond his wildest dreams.
Relationships: Hanji Zoe/Mike Zacharias, Levi/Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28





	1. A man on the street.

**Author's Note:**

> Woahhhhh im so excited about this one!! I hope you love it because I literally love writing it :-))
> 
> Please comment what you think I LIVE FOR COMMENTS

1

Eren swore under his breath as he slammed to a halt before a bank. He blew a long strand of dark hair up, making a mental note to ask Mikasa for a cut. He glanced around quickly, trying to find what he was looking for. That would prove difficult as the creature had the ability to turn invisible.

He was on a mission into the city to find new creatures to study and document, before releasing them back afterwards. He was looking for a specific creature, not often sighted anymore, even in its natural habitat. He had had some success, spotting one after only a short while of waiting in a dark and musty cafe. He had gone with somewhere unassuming so that it was less likely his work would be interrupted. He made his move as soon as it was seen, chasing it a few blocks before losing sight. Mikasa had told him not to go after it. "You need to approach it from a non-threatening angle, Eren. You can't scare it off," she had said. Eren listened to that advice for the span of two minutes, before getting antsy and impatient and giving chase. 

He had paused outside the bank, on a busy street, breathing heavily. He spotted a blue, fluffy, round ball bouncing through a crowd of tourists. "There you are," he growled under his breath. Unfortunately, there was a wide group of tourists across the street and cars were speeding on by without a care in the world for pedestrians. He decided to throw caution to the wind and dashed across the street. No need for lights when you had the impulsiveness of a shoplifter and the patience of a preschool teacher after a week of telling kids that just because the glue is non-toxic, doesn't mean it's edible.   
He caught up to the tourist group and the little ball of fluff, classified as a buffle. His cloak flowing behind him as if it were caught up in a soft wind. It was a still day out, so there was no wind. Just a charm he used to add to the look. He looked at the buffle with a grave expression before leaping up to catch it. Immediately, it flew off, leaving Eren to topple into a passing stranger.

They fell onto the sidewalk, and the people around continued walking, just avoiding the human pile of tangled limbs. Eren let out a string of curses and climbed off the man. His   
Green eyes filled with a spark of anger and hatred for all of two seconds before he sighed, defeated. 

"You made me miss the buffle. They're an endangered species, you know? And there was one. Right in the heart of this city. And because of your lame ass, I missed it. Thanks a lot. I oughta hex you to fucking Monday and back, so help me Hera," he rambled. He picked up a slip of paper off the ground with sketches of different creatures and random notes that alternated between Gaelic, Latin, Greek, English, and something else that looked like a secret code a kindergartner might have written.   
He narrowed his eyes down at the stranger, who was still sprawled out across the pavement- and looking up at him with about the most contempt he had ever seen on a persons face. 

A small creature with blue and silver scales crawled out of a pocket on the inside of his cloak. It had the body of a shrunken dragon and the head of a kitten. Puffs of smoke rolled out of its nostrils as it glared at the man before them. 

"Chillax, Xander. We'll get the buffle soon. But I can't return to Mikasa without something. Find me a bug of some sort, preferably with some fur. Come back to me and we'll get it together," he muttered to the creature, not taking his eyes off of the man he had collided with, who had now got up off the floor and was dusting off an expensive- if ripped- looking suit. The animal from his pocket disappeared in a cloud of mist, leaving a damp spot on Eren's chest.

“Oh well I’m so sorry then!” The raven haired stranger said, drawing out the o sound in so, sarcasm ringing in his voice. His nice jacket was dirty, and he was all ruffled and dishevelled. “It was totally my fault” he added raising a thin eyebrow as he looked up at Eren. He rolled his eyes a little, dusting himself down with small strokes.   
He looked at the creature with mixed expressions. There was intrigue in his Aegean eyes, but his face was no less indifferent than before.  
The man straightened his posture and lifted his chin. He sighed a little, looking up at Eren once again, obviously expecting an explanation. 

Eren's posture was horrible. His shoulders were slouched and his hips were jutted out to the side.  
He tilted his head to look down at the shorter male. His dark eyes narrowed slightly, ocean colour sharpened by the harsh light of summer in the city. He could just walk away, but he needed to get the last word in. Besides, he couldn't leave without saying goodbye first. He hated it, but it's what his mother would tell him. 

"It is your fault. And there's no need for the sarcasm. I suggest you fix your attitude before someone gets fed up with it and decides to hex you. Not that I would use dark magic for bad, Hecate," he muttered, hoping the goddess believed him. He hadn't believed in the gods until two years ago when one visited his house in the form of a hyacinth, a beautiful man explaining himself to be a lover of Apollo’s. He compelled Eren to educate himself on matters concerning the Greek parthenogenesis. From what Eren found out, though vague, all was not good. 

He was about to say goodbye when he noticed a cut on the guy's cheek. He poked it with his finger. "Does it hurt?"

Grabbing Eren’s hand with slender fingers, the man’s blue eyes surveyed the other carefully. 

“Yes it does.” He muttered. 

Eren was skeptical. It seemed almost like he hadn’t even noticed before Eren pointed it out to him. It was like a ploy for attention. He yanked his wrist out of he raven’s hand, in favour of taking his pale chin between thumb and index finger, tilting his head back to examine the small nick. 

"Right. So, technically, you can't press charges because I didn't do anything wrong. But I'm a good person and work with Asklepios, so I am bound to hell with that. Which sucks for me because I hate you. Do you mind coming back to my house?" he asked, wrinkling his nose. He didn't want to help him, but if he didn't, he'd need to do some serious praying in hopes that he didn't get some incurable disease for not fixing up the cut. It was nothing a band-aid and some cream couldn't fix. But it could get infected since it was from the sidewalk which people tended to walk on. He almost laughed at the thought.

The stranger parted his lips slightly, his eyes betraying the objectified feeling he was obviously experiencing. His sharp brows knitted together, his eyes clouded with thought.   
His thoughts were practically written on his face. He was contemplating the decision, cogs turning quickly in his head. He shrugged. 

“Sure. I can.” He muttered flatly, running a hand through his hair and letting it fall in layers back upon his forehead. He bit his lip, looking up at the other. “Lead the way.” He said, with a bored sigh.

Eren released his chin and nodded his head solemnly. He let out a shrill whistle, so high pitched that a couple dogs barked somewhere nearby, but no one seemed to care too much. There were still plenty of people walking past, weaving around them in a thick crowd. In a puff of mist, Xander was back, this time with a pink, fuzzy insect on his back.

"Good job, Xander," Eren said, addressing the strange animal with a gratified smile. The other was startled by the sudden reappearance of the strange creature. He peered at it curiously, eyes huge.

He looked back down at the shorter male. "I'll lead the way. It's in the middle of the woods on the other side of town. We could walk, which would take an hour-“ the stranger looked unimpressed. “-drive, which could take an hour and a half-“ he raised his eyebrows at the eren “-or we could use Xander, which would take two seconds and probably your lunch if this is your first time using transport through water vapor," he explained. 

“Whatever..” his blue eyes bored into Eren. “Just take the last one I don’t care.” He muttered, breaking eye contact and glaring at the ground.

Eren looked down at Xander. "Is it okay, Xander? Just this once?" he pleaded with the small creature. 

It made a strange noise of acceptance. Eren looked perplexed for a moment before nodding, confusion still evident in his coppery eyes . It was immensely rare that Xander let anyone near him, let alone strangers. He must trust this man. Trust was a big thing with Xander. Xander's trust wasn't to be taken lightly and his intuition was always correct.   
Eren reached out his hand that Xander and the little pink bug were on. He held it out to the man. "Put your left hand on his back and close your eyes. It's also better if you're relaxed. He could sense negative emotions and it could very well mess with the way he transports us."

The man nodded attentively, nerves flashing in his eyes. His cheeks were slightly red aswell, and he seemed more nervous than the arrogant, snarky man he was earlier. He placed his hand gently onto the creatures back and let out a deep breath. 

He was tense, but eren could see his stiff shoulders relax and as he breathed out gently.   
It happened in a matter of seconds. The world around them grew and everything seemed incredibly off. It wasn't painful, at least not for Eren. They were turning into water droplets. Tiny, spread out water droplets. 

They zoomed through the air so fast it felt like part of them stayed on the sidewalk. 

In seconds, they were over a field of grass and flowers and then a forest. Finally, they dropped to the ground and condensed as solid objects. Eren was only mildly dizzy.   
In front of them was a stream and a wooden bridge that led to a twisting, Rocky path. The path ended at the base of the steps to a small looking cottage. The cottage was quaint on the outside, and looked just like any other in the area. It had simple white brick walls and a sweet thatched roof, vines of ivy climbing up the side- accompanied by lots of flowers that had grown up the side of the building. The front garden was grassy and neat, plenty of trees lining the outside, forming a wood which bordered the grassy meadow. 

Eren turned to the other man. 

”We have arrived."

As opposed to Eren’s rather graceful landing, he had fallen to the soft grass below pretty much immediately. He struggled onto his knees, before bending to the side to up chuck his small lunch. He looked up at the other, guilt written across his face. “Sorry..” he said quietly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He visibly cringed at the smell. “You weren’t kidding earlier on, huh.” He said, a little dazed still, practically sat in a puddle of his own sick.   
Eren looked down at him, annoyance plastered to his face.

"Yes, well, we can't all be perfect our first try. Let's get you cleaned up, yeah?” He said. This was obviously turning out to be more trouble than it was worth for the young man.


	2. Not a cat.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren cleans Levi up and shows him around the house- sort of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg omg omg so basically when I originally wrote this story, it was with original characters (Adonis and Damien so if you see those names somewhere let me know in the comments because it just means I forgot to change it) but I didn’t like it anymore so I switched it all out. Eren is quite dark and powerful in this one and Levi... is a bit ooc oops. Oh well he’s cute at least.
> 
> Enjoy chapter two and PLEASE COMMENT!!!

2

The taller stranger looked down at Levi, annoyance plastered to his face. 

"Yes, well, we can't all be perfect out first try. Let's get you cleaned up, yeah?" His green eyes were calm, his thoughts protected by the deep recesses of his iris.

Levi nodded, realising just how much he didn’t want to bathe in his lunch.

The moment he spoke, something came shooting out of the trees. It looked alike to a dragon, however it’s scales looked as if to be made of mottled bark. There was moss crawling up it’s body from the leafy end of its tail. It had small sprouts of leaves protruding from its neck, like a mane. 

Levi started at the appearance of the dragon, jumping a little, his sharp blue eyes widening. He had never seen a dragon that big. They were usually private animals, and around Greece they were all very small. 

“Alexander, welcome back," The man said, as if dragons coming up to his property were a perfectly normal thing.   
"Do you need help getting up?" he asked Levi, who was still sitting on the ground, less than an inch from his previously digested meal.

“Uh.. yeah- that would be good” he stammered through the sentence, accepting the help to stand up.   
This stranger was already proving to make this day one of the most interesting he had had in a long time.

A steady hand pulled him up and began crossing the bridge to the cottage. The man opened the door with a wave of his hand and stepped in. 

It was huge. Bigger than the outside could ever look from any angle. The walls were overrun with ivy and Levi could swear it was moving, he could see it out of the corner of his eye. When he looked, it stopped. It was like it was growing, but Levi was so sure it wasn’t. Just moving. 

There were creatures everywhere. Birds of kinds that Levi had never seen before, a rainbow of beautiful colours and all variations he could ever imagine; small rodent like animal scurrying around their feet, so fast that Levi needn’t watch his step; large felines that curved, sleek and silent with shiny coats and piercing gazes.  
The most beautiful creatures in the room however, were the ones that Levi had only ever dreamed of. Faeries and pixies with flickering light and peals of laughter, squat little gnomes that chased one another across the room with grubby little hands reaching out, and many more animals which seemed to be different from the rest. They were strange, none of them were like anything Levi had ever seen before. Some bore resemblance to normal creatures, but there was always something slightly magical about the aura surrounding them. 

The stranger flushed pink slightly as he looked around. All the animals stopped and stared at them when he entered. 

"Hey, guys. This is... uh... I don't know his name. But he'll be staying here for... however long he needs, I suppose. Please be nice. I'm talking to you, pixies and leffues. No pranks are to be pulled," he said before turning back to look at Levi. 

"Well, welcome."

“Levi Ackerman.” He said quietly, turning towards the slightly taller man. “That’s my name by the way.” He added, flushing a light pink shade. Back in Greece, most people knew the name Ackerman before they even met any of them. Here, he was just another nobody.

The other man tapped his foot against the floor and hummed slightly in response.

"Thank you very much, Ackerman. I feel like I've heard the name before. I just can't place it. It's Greek, correct? Hmm... Curious.” 

Levi didn’t answer the comment about his name, in favour of just nodding compliantly. The stranger seemed to have a talent for conversing with himself, it was rather entertaining to listen 

“ Anyhow, would you like to follow me upstairs. You need a bath, you smell like vomit. I have a robe, if you'd like. Or cloak. I also have clothes, though they might be a tad bit big on you."

Levi raised his eye brows at the size comment.   
“It’s only a few inches” he grumbled, having been teased by his sisters relentlessly for being the shortest since he had stopped growing at 14. He folded his arms, looking at the other for direction to a room where he could wash.

The man smirked. "Sure, well, follow me," he said and began leading him through the house. It was like a maze. Some parts of the house were made up entirely of trees. The walls were just branches intertwining with each other.   
Finally, They stopped before a door and tapped it with the palm of his hand. The branches loosened and gave way to a massive bathroom.

Levi’s jaw dropped. It was magnificent. Not only was he curious as to how the trees grew into such intricate and detailed curls, he was blown away by how large the house was. It hadn’t looked much bigger than 4 rooms from the outside. 

Of course, Levi didn’t have much experience with magic of any kind, limited to the mischief of the native faeries to Santorini. 

He looked up at the other man in awe. “This place is amazing.” He said quietly, humbled by how lovely it was. He was quick to judge the other, but he now had a building list of questions to ask.

The bathrooms was large, a high ceiling and a wide window on one wall, however the view was concealed by more of the twisting vines. The bath was built into the marble floor at a slope, and water was already lapping at the shallow end in small waves. The room was steamy and calm.

"Thank you. I appreciate it. I'll leave you here. There are towels around here somewhere. Just make sure you don't touch too many things. Oh! And if you have any trouble, call me. I'll be right outside," the man said before walking out of the room. The door closed behind him and he stood outside, waiting for the other. 

Levi nodded to all of this and noticed that the water was considerably deeper than before, and was also contributing more to the gentle clouds of steam drifting through the room. He shrugged a little, looking around. It smelled pleasant in there, like lots of different oils and perfumes combining harmoniously. There was a tall bottle of what looked like soap beside the tub so he lifted it and poured a little into the water. 

Levi stripped down. He practically melted into the bubbles, sighing with divine calm. He was never one to speak to the gods but he mentally thanked “whoever was watching him at that particular moment” (as he phrased it) for the spell of good fortune beaming upon him.

Once he had soaked for enough time to smell just as pleasant as the room itself, Levi rose from the bath, which seemed to begin draining automatically. 'Impressive.' He thought. He grabbed a towel from a stool nearby. The towel was white and fluffy and possibly the softest towel he had ever felt. After drying his hair a little bit, he wrapped it around his waist. He crept towards the door and opened it ever so slightly. 

"Hey, what am i supposed to wear?" The raven haired man asked quietly. It occurred to him how ridiculous this was. He was in some strangers house, in a towel, for hardly any reason at all. Because of his view on deities, Levi never really worried about the effects of his actions, just did before thinking.

The stranger turned around and his face and ears reddened visibly. He looked Levi up and down, and Levi almost squirmed under his heavy gaze. normally he wouldn't be fazed by what people thought of him, he knew he was attractive, that was no secret, but for some reason he was nervous as to what This man thought of him.

"You can wear..." his voice trailed off as he thought of what the other male could wear. He finally came to a conclusion and nodded his head. 

"Just follow me. I have some clothes in my wardrobe," he said. He grabbed Levi's arm and dragged him through the house. Behind them, the bathroom "door" closed up and became part of the wall, disappearing until it was needed again. 

A group of pixies flew by them, whispering random things that weren't understandable. The man looked back at them. "I hope you're not planning anything," he told them before turning back on his heal and dragging Levi through the halls.

Levi stumbled after the other, holding the towel so he didn't expose himself.   
"Your house is so big," he remarked quietly, half to himself.

The other shrugged.   
"It's really not. It's just constantly shifting. The halls grow and shrink depending on what's going on. The rooms move around depending on what you need. The house seems to like you. It does not feel threatened by you," he said as he continued walking. 

He reached the end of a hall and tapped the door with the palm of his hand, opening it up. Inside, the walls were made purely of twisting trees. Everything was. The bookshelves, the bedframe, the wardrobe, the chair, the desk. It was all just trees. A cat-like creature sat on his bed, looking at the two boys.

"Kai, this is Levi. Levi, Kai," he introduced them as if the creature was on a similar intellectual level at the two people.

Levi raised an eyebrow, impressed. he could practically feel the magic flowing through the building like a warm draught. another thing that he felt in the aura of the building was love. it was strong, like the inhabitants genuinely adored the house. his eyes widened at the room. it was so pretty, so much more appealing than the drab minimalist apartment he lived in.

Kai walked up to Levi. Like, actually walked up to him. It was as if they were walking up the air. Soon, their nose was touching Levi's nose and they began sniffing him. They turned upside down in a playful manor. The feline creatures owner released a chuckle and looked at him. 

"He wants you to play with him," he said with a smile.

Kai’s pelt was like smoke, wispy. It was definitely not fur. He had some sort of green light shining from his eyes, giving the illusion of a lagging video as it followed his gaze.

Levi looked unsure. His favourite animal was a cat, but he knew how temperamental they could be, and how you had to be careful approaching them. Kai seemed comfortable enough, so Levi lifted a hesitant hand to stroke the cat's soft head. he scratched it under the chin, the same way he used to with his family's cat. He smiled at the animal. he shivered a little, suddenly conscious of the fact he was still standing in a towel and blushed a little, warmth spreading across his cheeks.

Kai purred and jumped around in the air. They walked across Levi's shoulders and curled up across them. 

Shock bloomed across the face of the other male for a second before covering it up with a grin.   
"He likes you. Which is good because if they didn't you would be faceless," he said.

He walked over to his wardrobe and picked out a simple enough outfit. It had black pants made from cotton and a gentle green woven shirt.

Levi smiled at the sound of gentle purring in his ear. it was sweet, almost nostalgic, and reminded him of simpler times. he was more attentive towards the cat than the man, fussing about it until it was comfortable and happy. he looked up, and smiled, a little embarrassed. "sorry, your... cat seems to like me" he said with a low chuckle. He took the clothing from him, wondering how he was going to get the cat to leave his shoulders.

"Kai is not a feline, but you can call them a cat if you'd like," the man told him with a smile. Kai noticed what was going on and whined before walking through the air to His shoulders. The trees of the wall opened up to form a small room for Levi to get changed. "You can get changed in there. I'll get changed out here."

Levi nodded.   
"wait- im sorry, im in your house, im going to wear your clothes, youre being so nice to me... but i dont even know your name yet," Levi practically whined. he knew how weird some people could be with giving out their names, something about debt. Levi knew all about debt, but he really never understood the whole 'giving' your name thing. He ran a hand through his silky hair, slicking it back a little. He gave the other a weak smile. He probably looked like an idiot, but he was attempting to look a little more friendly towards the other man.

The stranger paused for a second. Names held so much power over someone. If someone knew your name they could do different things to you, you could be under their control. It was terrifying to give your true name, especially when you were a witch or someone who worked similarly. 

"You can call me Fritz,"

Levi nodded, smiling a little wider. He knew the other was suspicious of him still, but other than that, he couldn't read anything else from simply an expression. of course, he wasn't quite as experienced in witch craft or anything really concerning magic. Levi shrugged a little and began pulling on the shirt. his mind was drawn back to the job interview he was supposed to be at at that moment. honestly, he didn't mind missing it, it wouldn't have been a very enjoyable or rewarding job anyways, but it did mean he would probably have to go without hot showers for a while. He would call his mother for a loan, but he knew that if his father found out he would be very angry, and Levi didn't want to put his mother under that kind of pressure without him being around to protect her from the fiery rage that his father possessed.

Levi heard some noise outside, but nothing too loud. There was a shout from Eren, but it didn’t sound panicked or angry. He supposed it was one of the magical creatures they had passed, many of them had been weirdly quiet so far. He pulled on the trousers, pleasantly surprised to find that they were a soft cotton material, not the scratchy, formal pants that he usually wore.

Levi left the closet, sauntering into the room. he held himself as elegantly as he could muster- he was used to dressing in more formal clothes, more form fitting ones too.

The stranger looked him up and down and smiled.   
"The pants are a bit long, but that's alright. Come, I want you to meet my family," he said. That must have been the noise Levi had heard, because he hadn’t thought the man even lived with anyone, let alone his family. 

He grabbed Levi’s hand and dragged him through the house, running quickly down the stairs and into a new room.


	3. The garden and the mermaid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi meets Hanji and Mikasa. Levi also meets Armin. Levi also acquires a new pet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pfffff im trying to update this as much as possible for you. I’m trying to work as many characters in as possible. 
> 
> Later on, both Hanji and Mikasa will have Love interests- PLEASE COMMENT WHO YOU THINK THEY SHOULD BE because I am SO lost.  
> Also one of them has to be a girl please!! 
> 
> Anyways enjoy and comment what you think!!!

3

There were two girls in the room. One was about Eren’s height, and very slim; the other was shorter, and seemed to have a bit more muscle mass. 

Hanji turned her head as they entered, flicking her long brown hair over her shoulder, and squealed happily when she noticed Levi. Mikasa hung back, grey eyes thinned with a smile.

Levi flushed red, suddenly more insecure than he thought he was. Eren looked at him from the side of his eye, smirking at how uncomfortable he seemed. He obviously didn’t meet new people a lot because he was squirming like a criminal under interrogation.

Hanji rushed over to him and pinched his pale cheeks.   
"He's so adorable! Is he what you brought me? Well, obviously not. You're too selfish. You just wanted to show him off and then keep him to yourself. Can we keep him?" she asked, batting her long lashes. 

Mikasa walked over to her and pulled her away a bit by her arm, slender fingers with chipped plum nail polish wrapping gently around the fabric of Hanji’s shirt. 

"Hello, Levi Ackerman. It's a pleasure to meet you. Excuse my friend, she loves meeting new people," Mikasa said calmly.

Levi smiled a little, flushing a darker red at the excited girls words. he was a little taken aback by the other. 

"how do you know my name?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, a little alarmed. He didn't have any memory of meeting her previously, and the closest he ever came to being even slightly famous was when he modelled for a small clothing company when he first moved away. Eren grinned at him.

"It's just part of my path of magic. I am able to tell people's names and true names. It is not as big a deal as being able to talk to animals," she said, nodding her head in Eren's direction. 

Levis brows shot to his forehead, he didn’t have any experience with people with magical abilities. In Greece, if you had magic, you moved to a bigger city, there was no question. “That’s so cool..” he breathed quietly. 

"Or controlling certain elements." She tilted her head towards Hanji. "But it can be quite useful. So, are you going to stay with us for dinner? Hanji's an amazing chef and loves to cook, and Eren has this beautiful garden," she said. Eren looked at his feet, heat spreading to his face. Now Levi knew his real name.

He smiled at the girl, she seemed really nice. He felt a surge of confusion about the name Eren being dropped but he didn’t let it cross his face, just smiling a little. He looked at Eren, with a slight flash in his eyes, a sign saying that ‘we would talk about it later’. 

“If that’s okay, I would love to. I’m a little worried I overstayed my welcome, you see.” He said quietly, smiling politely- he put on his best ‘model’s smile’ for them, trying to make a better impression on the girls than he did on Eren.

"Oh shush!" Hanji said. "You and Eren can go collect the food for dinner and Mikasa and I will prepare some things. Do you have any allergies? Gluten? Sugar? Mint? Slryon? Groplis? Masra? Lamb? Butter? Milk?" she rattled off.   
Eren looked at Levi shyly. He knew his sisters could be a bit much. He was sort of embarrassed about it.

“Uh-“ he paused, trying to recall if he was allergic to anything. His sister Petra was allergic to shellfish, but as far as he could recall, he wasn’t allergic to anything major. “Um, well I usually don’t eat much gluten, but that’s a choice not a necessity so if it’s too inconvenient, I can eat pasta and bread and stuff.” He rambled.   
He made eye contact with Eren, silently sending a plea for help. He didn’t really know what to say, no one in his family was this hyper. They were all reserved and quiet, and didn’t speak to one another unless they needed to. Especially in the months leading up to levi moving.

Eren glanced at him and turned back to Hanji. "Hanji, stop, you're scaring him. Don't worry, Levi. She's only talking about bread. She's been making this recipe for two days and is excited to finally bake it. Levi, he doesn't know what half those things are. He isn't a witch. We also have biscuits which are great with butter and jam. Slyron is always good for tea with a bit of mint. We'll find those in the garden. If you don't eat meat, we have salad and stew. But lamb is delicious so you might want to try it. But that's alright. Come with me to the garden. We could feed the animals as well," he said as he pulled Levi out of the kitchen.

The man hardly had time to process all of the information thrown at him before he was following Eren from the room, smiling like a dumbass at the two girls.  
“Are we going to the garden?”   
Levi mentally kicked himself for asking such an obvious question, but he didn’t quite know how to start a conversation with the other. He picked at the cut on his cheek, which was now really a scab. It was only a small nick and normally he wouldn’t touch it so it would heal quicker, but he felt himself doing it as a kind of nervous tic.

"Yes, we are. Don't make any sudden movements, keep by my side at all times, always wear the gloves I'm going to give you, don't put anything in your mouth, and for the love of Zeus, don't go near to south west corner," he said. Some rules sounded like kindergarten rules, but he'd made those mistakes before.

Levi raised an eyebrow at all of the rules, but tried his best to commit them to memory. He was a smart guy, but he also had the tendency to think he had the right to do the opposite of what he was told. 

He entered the garden and looked around in awe. Everytime he was taken aback. Magical animals were everywhere. It was beautiful.

For what seemed like the 100th time that day, his jaw dropped. “Holy shit. This is so fucking cool!” He said.   
The minute they stepped outside, he understood why Eren had to tell him not to touch anything. Because now he wanted to touch everything. It was all so colourful and vibrant and he wanted to feel each texture under his hands. 

The two entered a small clearing, thick foliage overhead and all around. It seemed more private than the rest of the garden- like a whole other room, due to the wall-like bushes forming a circle like shape around a bank of grass and a deceptively shallow looking pool of water. The pool was bright blue and the floor was covered in shiny crystals and flat stones- he could tell it was very deep in the middle only because the stones were harder to see. 

They left the clearing through a gap between the thick bushes, and Levi could see far more. There was a rolling lawn of emerald green, with a small pond and a few marble statuettes littered around. The statues were classically Greek in make, and stylised in a very specific ancient way. There was a small stone platform in the middle of the pond, with pillars forming a circle. This was the largest section of the garden, open and bright. 

In one corner, there was a small stone tunnel, and it wasn’t visible from where they were standing what was through it. 

He was immediately drawn to the one corner Eren had forbidden him from going, and he reprimanded himself mentally. This corner was darker than the rest. The plants were all more exotic, larger leaves and darker in colour. There was more stone there aswell. It seemed to slope downwards sharply towards the area. There was steam rising from a few cracks in the ground, and a blue light glowed from the general section. Perhaps there was some feature that made it so much more enchanting than the rest.

As they walked further across the lawn , the creatures of the garden looked up at them. A little creature, about the size of a teddy bear, scurried up to levi. It was a guffle. It was rather round, and fluffy all over. The fur faded into feathers to form tiny little wings that didn’t seem to serve any purpose. It’s feet had tiny claws and it had a beak, but it also had a very long tail. It was a mottled brown colour, and it had amber eyes that smiled without smiling. A very adventurous creature who often got into trouble because of how curious it was. Eren looked at Levi and smiled. "Pick it up. It cannot climb so it buries itself underground and has a general distaste for being higher up than other creatures. Very humble if you ask me," Eren said. Guffles were probably the most friendly creatures there. They didn't bite or snap or anything and were the perfect companion. Witches often used them to deal with mental illness as they had the capability to calm people down. They were also loyal to a fault and trusted people very easily.

Levi bent down into a squatting position, and patted the little animal on the head. He picked it up like you would a baby, hands under the arms and plenty of support behind the head. He smiled at it, giving it a scratch behind the ears. “It’s so cute..” he said quietly, making little cooing noises at it.   
He looked up at eren with a smile. “What got you into this whole magical creatures thing?” He asked. He knew vaguely that Eren had magick in relation to animals, but the explanation was so brief that he didn’t really understand. The only magical person he ever really met was a girl called Nanaba who could levitate, but only a few inches off the ground and only for a few seconds at a time. Besides, she moved away almost immediately after her parents found out about her power.

Eren shrugged his shoulders. "I am not quite sure. When I built this house with Hanji and Mikasa, it just sort of attracted creatures. I wasn't about to turn them away. They'd been living in the forest longer than I have, some have lived here longer than the city has been standing. So I welcomed them in, or, more likely, they welcomed me in. And we just sort of grew with each other. Mutual respect. Besides, it's a safe haven for many of them. They are not hunted down or stalked by any creature, humans included. So they stay here. And I kind of felt drawn to animals, so I began helping them. Many of the ones here were previously injured. I healed them. Soon enough I discovered that I was able to talk to them. You will only hear me speaking English, but I am currently speaking Latin. And now Gaelic. The animals hear me in their own language," Eren explained.

“Wow.. that’s awesome.” Levi said quietly, fussing the satisfied looking Guffle in his arms. “Do you all have powers? Like you and your siblings?” He asked, genuinely intrigued. He couldn’t remember the last time he was so interested in a person. He was still looking around at the many creatures running around. Some were playing with each other, dancing, chasing each other. The atmosphere was so calm and secure, and somewhere a gorgeous melody sounded. It made Levi want to follow it.

Eren put a firm hand on Levi's shoulder. His grip was tight. "That is a siren. You are safe here, but the closer you get the harder it will be. If I have to, I will get you ear muffs. This may be a safe place for magical creatures, but they are still just that. Creatures. Not humans. I love them all with every piece of me, but some are quite dangerous. They would never hurt me. But you are new," he said. His voice was stern and so incredibly honest and sincere. "Now, to answer your question, Hanji can control the elements. She helped with the walls of this home. Mikasa knows things. Her patron goddess is Athena, so it's sort of self explanatory. She is like Sherlock. Most of the time, she doesn't need to be told things. It's amazing."

“You guys are incredible. It’s so cool to have all of these powers. But... you might have to elaborate on patron gods and goddesses later. I grew up in a very atheist household. In fact I would even go as far as to say acosmic. My father never really believed in anything, and therefore neither could we.” He said with a dry chuckle. His father meant well, but he was a bit insensitive to other people. That’s probably where Levi got it from. 

“Anyways,” he said, changing the subject from family. “What are we out here to gather?” He said with another small smile. He knelt down and placed the guffle gently on the ground, giving it another pat on the head gently.

Eren looked down at the guffle and shook his head. "Pick the guffle back up and apologise to it. You hold it as long as it wants to be held. You cannot put it down until it jumps from your hands. We are here to pick Slryon and Masra. They are both in this corner so we don't have to hunt or anything. They grow in the ground, close to the trees," Eren said. He waited for Levi to listen to his instructions. The guffle had started crying. They were, after all, some of the most sensitive creatures. Rejection was the main fear of theirs. They were never prey to any animal and they never hunted any animal. They were so peaceful.

“Oh sorry,” levi said quietly, picking it back up immediately. He stroked it gently, hoping it would stop crying, he didn’t mean to make it cry. The whines seemed to quiet down a little and he looked towards the other, paying more attention to Eren. It was only now that they were standing in close proximity that he realised that there actually was quite a few inches between them. Ouch. That was certainly a hit to his ego.

"Alright, follow me," Eren said as he started walking. He reached a tree and crouched down next to a plant. He stroked the leaves gently before picking them off. It was a way of saying thank you to the plant. He found it rude, taking without showing gratitude. Besides, most plants took that as an offense as well, so it could be dangerous. "This is Slryon. You bake it and crush it before you use it in anything because it can be toxic. It's mainly used for tea, though sometimes it can be used for healing when mixed with the proper ingredients. You need to bake it at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. They do not catch fire very easily so it's a perfect balance," he explained.

Levi held the guffle close to his chest in a loose hug. He followed Eren, also crouching to look at the plant. He was confused by the whole stroking thing, but didn’t want to ask in case it was personal.  
“I didn’t know about all of this. We found it very hard to grow plants when I was growing up, it was always too hot.” He said briefly, looking closely at the plant. He grinned at Eren, standing back up.

"Not even olive trees? Figs? Oranges? Lemons? Huh. I've always found it hard to live without plants," he said, mainly to himself than Levi. "Alright. Now we need Masra. It grows closer to the water," he said as he began walking over to the tunnel. As the two of them passed under the mossy bricks, gentle light filtered through a glass ceiling in a large round room. There was a massive lake in the middle, and various plants around the outside and climbing the walls. It obviously served as a kind of greenhouse- and also a room for animals who needed a higher temperature or more room underwater. The lake was a dark shade of green, and obviously very deep in the middle. There was a muddy shore along one side, where the water lapped gently on stones and shells- on the other side, there were stone platforms of various heights and sizes, and even a thin stream of water flowing from one as a makeshift waterfall. 

A mermaid-like creature swam up to the edge of the lake and pushed himself up. "Eren, it has been awhile," he said, his voice was rusky and sort of old-sounding.  
"I came here this morning, Armin. Time is different for you. Remember," Eren said, sitting at the edge of the lake.   
"Aaah, yes. Time, what a funny thing. I see you have brought a friend. Levi Ackerman. What a miracle it is to meet you."

Levi blushed at the sight of the merman. He was beautiful, and made his stomach flutter. It was strange, he was never one to be nervous, but he wanted to make a good impression on all of these new people he was meeting. 

The merman had grey skin, but it was shiny as if it was covered in a coat of glass. He had silver hair that fell just below his ears and graced his eyebrows in a fringe, and piercing blue eyes. There were tattoos of strange black symbols and pictures all over his body, and he wore a few various necklaces on which hung charms and shells. 

He smiled. “Nice to meet you. I would introduce myself, but it seems you already know my name,” he said, averting his gaze to the ground. Usually he wasn’t the one feeling intimidated when meeting people.

Armin smirked at him and glanced at Eren for a split second. "You are very handsome, Levi from the house of Ackerman. I assume you are aware of this though. Tell me, what is it that you are doing here with Eren. He is always so lonely, only hanging out with his sisters and a... What was that word you use to describe them?... lesbian? Yes, that's it. What are you doing here? He doesn't ever let people in the garden," Armin went on.   
Eren nearly snapped his own neck. "It's all very well, Armin. We just need Masra. Hanji and Mikasa are making tea and stew. Can you fetch it for us?" he asked.   
Armin made a low grumbling noise but disappeared below the surface quickly before coming back up with the Masra.

Levi blushed at what he assumed was a compliment. He didn’t answer the question though, Eren seemed to not want the conversation to continue, which was perfectly fine with Levi because he didn’t know if he could form words at that moment. His mouth had gone dry and he felt lightheaded, he didn’t know that anyone could be so charming and suave. Considering he thought of himself as charming and suave usually, this was a little embarrassing and he took a slight step back from the edge of the water.

When Armin resurfaced, Eren took it from his hands, said thank you, and stood up. He turned to levi and looked at his hands- which were still holding the now sleeping Guffle. "Great. Now you'll have to eat dinner with him on your lap or something. We typically don't like creatures at the tables. But we'll make an exception. He's yours now, after all. You even get to name him," Eren said excitedly. "Follow me," he said as he began walking out of the garden, holding both the Slryon and the Masra in his hands.

Levi looked down at the little animal and smiled. He followed Eren, but still turned his head over his shoulder to look back at the captivating smile of the merman. He shivered slightly at the eye contact, and turned back around to follow Eren. He tickled the guffle and since it had woken a moment ago, it was making delightful little sounds like peals of laughter that rang through the air. It was a mixture between the chirp of a small bird and the meow of a timid cat.


	4. Hetero- what now??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The jaegers get to know levi a bit more, and vice versa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow another one?? Already??
> 
> Leave comments!! Enjoy

4

They walked into the kitchen where Hanji was pulling two loaves of bread out of the oven. Mikasa was working on the lamb and the stew simultaneously. Well, sort of. She was focused on the lamb, but used her magic to stir the pot. Hanji put the bread down an turned to them. 

"Thank Saturn! You were there for hours! I was wondering when you'd come. Oh! Levi! You got yourself a guffle! How cute!" she squealed. Mikasa was still focused on her cooking but decided to add her two cents in.

"What were you doing there? Did Armin hold you back? I assume he would. Levi is pleasant to look at. Lake dwellers are so materialistic sometimes."

Levi blushed a little, nodding, holding the cute little animal on display towards Hanji.  
He turned towards Mikasa and nodded, 

“yeah. Your garden is beautiful by the way.” He said, addressing all of them. He smiled, looking over at Eren. He had an odd look in his eyes, like he had just awoken from a wonderful dream and was trying to remember every second of it. It was so strange, every fibre of his being itched to go back into the garden, to experience the immense peace he felt when he was there. The whole house was so lovely, it made him never want to leave. Of course, as soon as this thought crossed his mind, he also grew suspicious. These people were magic after all. And they work in strange ways. He wondered if they would take advantage of him eventually. To be perfectly honest, he did owe them. But even so, he almost didn’t want to take any more from them, not to deepen his debt

Yes, their hospitality most definitely could have come off as suspicious. There was always more to it than what met the eye. 

The Jaegers came from a long line of witches and magic folk. They had been working with the gods for ages. Which was why they had been one of the first families to know about the growing tensions between a group of powerful witches, warlocks, and demons, and the gods. 

This might not have been important with Levi, had it been for the very clear signs that he was special. Like the fact that all the creatures just somehow accepted him. That wasn't a normal thing. That's why Eren never invited too many people over. Yet they had accepted him. It was strange. 

Mikasa looked Levi up and down and knitted her eyebrows together skeptically. "Do you have heterochromia?" she asked him, her gaze looking into his eyes, not blinking at all.

He blinked at her, raising and eyebrow in a slightly comical fashion.  
“Hetero-what now?” He asked, looking at her like she had three heads. 

The kitchen was aromatic, smelling strongly of cooking, an intricate mix of herbs and spices, and most distinctly that wonderful smell that a home has. 

He smiled awkwardly, averting his gaze in favour of looking back at his guffle, checking to make sure it was comfortable.

"Heterochromia. You're irises changed color. They were blue before. And you're not standing in the sun light, which is, however rare, the only thing that could possibly make that happen. Hmm... It doesn't matter.”

He listened to the girl explain it, and then was confused when she simply shrugged it off. This was weird. His eyes had never changed colour before, that he knew of. Perhaps it had happened but no one cared enough to notice. He reasoned with himself mentally, coming up with reason after reason for why they might look grey. 

she continued to speak, unbothered. “Eren, set the table. Tonight, after dinner, Hanji and I were thinking we could go into the town. It'd be lovely. It always is at night. It'd also be nice to show Levi around, yes?" she said, turning back to the pot.

Eren grinned and nodded happily. "That sounds wonderful, actually. I heard there was going to be a play in the town square. It'd be really nice to go see it. How does that sound Levi?" he asked as he walked over to the cupboards and took out clay bowls and plates.

He simply nodded and smiled, tight lipped. He didn’t quite know what to say. He was excited by the prospect of exploring, but he didn’t even know what he was doing here. He should be at home. Home. The more he thought about it, he didn’t really have one of those. The apartment in the city was ugly and dirty, and too expensive for what it was. The villa in Greece was as much of a home as it was an igloo. 

He was worried about overstaying his welcome, offending the three people. Maybe they wanted him to leave already and they were just being polite. The discussion inside his head was too loud, so he occupied himself with stroking his little guffle gently so it didn’t wake.

Eren began setting the table with everything. He set up a chair and everything for Levi. Hanji was slicing the bread and grilling half of it on the stove with homemade butter. She didn't know what Levi liked when it came to bread, but Eren loved grilled bread and butter. It was his favorite. Though, Mikasa preferred it plain and simple. She didn't like it to crunchy. Hanji preferred it without crust, so for one fourth of the plain bread she cut off the crust and put it in a bowl to give to some of the creatures. 

"So, where were you guys? Were you in town or did you go to the city?" Eren asked.

"We went to the neighboring town to buy some gems and stones. Hanji tried picking a fight with Connie. You know? The dwarf guy. Three feet tall."

Eren smirked. "Like Levi."

Mikasa just shook her head. "He's five three. Be nice, Eren."

Hanji butted in with a whine. "I did not try to pick a fight with him! He tried to rip us off!"

Levi sat down, the guffle in his lap. He didn’t really know what to do with it. He didn’t want to put it down, lest it cry, but it was also hanging on to his sleeve pretty tight. He tuned in to their conversation just enough to catch Eren’s s three feet tall remark. 

“Hey!” He whined, pouting slightly. “That’s mean,”

Really, he was rather entertained by their conversations, they were all full of personality and fun to watch. His siblings were lovely and all but neither of them were this animated, especially Erwin. Petra wasn’t too bad, she was fun to stay up and chat to.  
In fact, he wasn’t used to this much lively chatter. He was more used to ‘silence at the dinner table’ and ‘speak when spoken to’ mannerisms. He usually tried to keep quiet, but naturally he was a person who had a lot to say.

"Exactly, Eren. Words hurt," Mikasa said.  
"Hanji, stop giggling. He might be gay, but being laughed at by a female is always embarrassing. I apologize, Levi. Really, they don't have any manners. And speaking of what we did today, how did you two meet anyways? Why did you bring him home, Eren?" she asked. 

"He stopped me from catching the buffle! And when he fell to the ground, he demanded compensation for my actions. He told me it was my fault," he said, stretching out the "y" in "my". "Can you believe that? My fault! He was so cocky and arrogant and cute and he thought he was the greatest thing to ever grace my presence! Can you believe him?" Eren said, glancing at Levi and winking slyly.

Mikasa looked over at Levi, deadpan. "Is that true, Levi? Really, I would never dream of believing Eren on the first try. He—"

"Are you calling me a liar?!"

Levi listened to their bickering with a small smile spread across his face. His pale cheeks reddened a little at what Eren was saying. He was going to say that Eren’s account of the story was far exaggerated, and that it was technically his fault, but settled for a shrug and a coy smile. 

"You two are always trouble. Why did I ever decide to live with you two?"

Hanji scoffed. "You say this every day. And every day the answer is the same. You love us and we love you. Besides, the gods would tremble on Olympus if the dates left us unwatched."

Mikasa chuckled. "You are right about that."

It was sweet really, the way they argued amicably, so very sibling-like of them.  
He smiled warmly at Mikasa, who caught his eye again, before he looked back down at his lap to where the guffle had resumed its snoring.

Mikasa sighed and smiled. "Honestly, sometimes I feel like I'm your mother instead of your sister," she said with a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Levi, I am so happy you are here. But I swear, if you end up like these two, I might have to retire from being all of ya'll's friend because I do not, will not ever, have the mental capacity to put up with another Jaeger. And I swear it on Athena spear, I will never put up with your bullshit. You seem like a smart enough fellow, if you turned against me, we may truly have a problem," she said with a smile. There was a twinkle in her eye that might have once been mistaken for a reflection of light, but was so much more than that. 

Eren pouted. "But you can't retire from us. Who would be our pass into Elysium when we all die together. And now that we have Levi, you can't leave us! Because he's never going to get into Elysium the way he is now. All seductive and charming and asshole-y. He'll get us sent to Tartarus!"

Levi hardly understood any of what they were saying. He had a basic knowledge of it all, from school, but other than that he just smiled when his name was mentioned. He did, however flash a quick smile at Mikasa. She seemed slightly more reserved than the other two, and more grounded, and he knew that they would get along well.  
He did, unfortunately, understand that Eren’s last statement was less than a compliment to say the least.  
“Asshole-y?” He said, smirking.

"Eren! This is why your only friends are your sisters. You do not call new people assholes," Hanji said, though she didn't seem surprised. She was actually about to bust out laughing. It was practically set in stone. Levi was there for good. No getting out of it. 

"Hey! I have friends!"

"Yeah? Who?"

"Well, there's Jean Kirs—"

"If you say Kirschtein, I'm gonna carve out your tongue with a spoon. Jean Kirschtein is a guy you hooked up with one time, left on read, and nearly attacked the moment he said something about you being gay because of Carla and Kimi. You were not friends, were never friends, will never be friends," Mikasa said.

"I was gonna say.. uh kirstey."

"You don't even know a Jean Kirstey."

"Yeah I do!"

"Who?"

"Mr. Kirstey from Social Studies."

"He was your history teacher in sixth grade!" Hanji exclaimed. 

"He was still nice."

"He got arrested for an armed robbery two years ago," Mikasa added. "Nice only lasts so long, I suppose."

Levi was silent throughout the discussion, an amused look on his face. He decided to rub salt in the wound a little as he nudged Eren gently. 

“So.. got any other friends” he said with a laugh, looking up at him through his lashes. He looked away, in favour of smiling at the two girls. He straightened his back after realising he had be slouching a little, pushing his shoulders back into a more controlled posture.

"First of all, loosen the fuck up. No one cares how you sit. Second, I have plenty of friend. For instance, ever have a mermaid suck your—"

"Eren, we are about to have dinner, will you shut up about your weird fantasies with Armin. Levi, dear, don't listen to him. He's trying to brag. He's like a five year old. Teasing you because he like you."

"I do not!"

"Yeah yeah. Whatever. And Achilles didn't like Patroclus. We all know how that turned out."

"Oh, shut up!"

"Why on Earth would I do that, when I could bother you instead."

"Hanji! You have to do something!"

"You're right," Hanji responded. “Mikasa, I completely agree."

"I hate you both."

"No, you don't."

Levi opened his mouth to argue back to Eren, but the others seemed to have it covered. He simply shot him a smug look, laughing a little at his annoyance. He wouldn’t admit it aloud, but Eren was certainly very good looking, and he would have been lying to himself if he said he wasn’t at least a little bit attracted to him. 

“Do you guys need any help finishing preparing for dinner?” He asked, desperately wanting to make himself useful. Not that he could do much what with the little ball of fluff and feathers curled into his lap. He ran a hand through his hair, attempting to move it out of his eyes more. 

Mikasa had already played the lamb and was now just waiting for the stew to cool down slightly. Hanji had finished with the bread and setting it up nicely. She turned to Levi and smiled.

"Can you bring this to the table, Eren," she said, looking back to Eren. 

Eren groaned. "Why can't he do it?"

"Because he's a guest, Eren. Besides, he has a guffle in his lap. He's not doing manual labor anytime soon," she responded with a smirk. 

Eren got up and retrieved the dish and set it down in the middle of the table. He leaned over it and looked Levi daringly in the eyes. "I will have my revenge, Ackerman," he said, trying to put on a mean sneer but only managing to keep a straight face for two seconds before having to stifle a laugh.

Levi stuck his tongue out at the dark haired male before breaking out into his own light laughter. 

“Yeah, good luck with that,” he said, laughing at Eren. 

Levi took in a deep breath through his nose, the smell of fresh bread pervading his senses.  
“It smells and looks incredible by the way,” he said with a genuine smile sent towards Hanji. It reminded him of when Petra made bread once. It was a disaster, she almost set the kitchen on fire, but he rekindled the memory with a sad smile, looking down at the table with blank eyes.

Eren noticed the change of tone in Levi’s face. "Hey, cheer up. You're gonna flip when you taste Mikasa's cooking! I can't wait to show you the town! It's beautiful! There's a small bookshop there with so many books I— I don't even know. It's my favorite place in the whole world," he said with a sigh. He sat down across from Levi and grinned at him. 

Mikasa brought over the stew and Hanji helped bring over the lamb. She also brought over clay cups and a pitcher of fresh spring water.

He snapped out of the daze and looked up at him with a genuine smile. “That sounds amazing. I can’t wait.” He said, biting his lip out of habit. He waited for the others to serve themselves first, he didn’t know what was customary in their house. He wondered if they prayed before their meals like some families did. Even so, he wanted to wait until everyone was ready before eating. 

He looked at the girls in awe. “This really does look incredible by the way.” He said, impressed by their cooking skills. The most he knew was how to make an omelette, if that. And it hardly ever turned out right.

His foot brushed Eren’s under the table and he gave it a slight kick, smiling innocently at him.

Eren hooked his foot around Levi's ankle and began sliding up his leg. He did all this while keeping a straight face. 

Mikasa looked at them and sighed. "You guys can go on ahead. We already gave offerings to our patrons. Though, Eren, you really should try to remember to be there for Hecate. She loves you and all, but she'd still smite you if you irked her," 

Mikasa said as she picked up bread from the platter. Hanji had already served herself some and was slurping away at the stew. Eren was piling his plate with bread. He looked at Levi. "Go ahead. No one cares what you eat like. Just don't do it like a prissy little prick."

Levi reddened a little, but kept quiet, instead of reacting, he began serving himself. He made sure to take a nice helping of stew, he hadn’t had it homemade in years, and a cut of lamb with some bread. The food was some of the best he had ever tasted, and he ate his fill, clearing the plate. He placed the cutlery neatly on one side.  
His cheeks were pink, and he twisted his ankle to gently kick Eren’s again.

Eren only let his foot travel up his leg until it was hooked under Levi's right knee and pressed up against his left thigh. He looked him dead in the eye and smirked before winking. 

Levi flushed a deeper shade of red and wondered how Eren was managing to stay completely stoic. 

Mikasa began talking about how things were going at the University, she was studying math, though Eren never cared enough to ask her the specifics. Like what on Earth made her choose math of all paths she could take. It was for Athena. Hanji began discussing what things were like in the town. Sasha and Annie, the owners of the pub, began selling more than just beer. Hanji said she wanted to try something with kick.

He listened attentively to the girls chatting about anything and everything, it was very interesting to hear about their lives. He had many questions for them, but those could wait. Why was Mikasa studying math? Where did they grow up? What did they all do for work? He smiled to himself. He was smiling a lot more today.

Eren smirked at him and returned to the girl. "Ladies, Levi doesn't even know what you're talking about," he said, glancing back at Levi as his foot raised higher and higher until it was touching his stomach right above his crotch. 

Mikasa cleared her throat at him. "Will you two stop playing footsies under the table at dinner, please?" she said, making Eren's face turn red. Levi reddened further, if that was even possible at that point.

Hanji giggled and turned to Levi. "Tell us more about you," she said, leaning towards him.

“Uh..” he cleared his throat. “Well.. I was born in Zakynthos and lived there until I was 4.” He paused, trying to recall. They moved around a lot, just hopping in a boat to a different island more times than he could count on one hand. “We moved to Santorini when I was 7, after hopping around for three years.” He paused again, collecting his memories. “I have two siblings called Petra and Erwin. And uh.. I guess that it.” He said quietly, shrugging.

Hanji and Mikasa nodded their heads, Eren smiled at him. 

Mikasa looked at him and furrowed her eyebrows.  
"So, what do you want to know about us? Hmmm... Let's start with us. Hanji and Eren are twins. I was adopted later on. Their mothers work as witches in the same hospital. That's probably where Eren came to work with Asklepios. We've know each other our whole lives. Those two are crazy, honestly."

“Wow that’s amazing, I can’t imagine knowing someone for that long, unless you count parents, which I really don’t.” He said with a dry laugh. “I’m sort of close with Petra. Not really with Erwin. But definitely no where near as close as you guys.” He admitted. Levi admired how relaxed and happy they all were. They all seemed content to just be with each other.  
“Thankyou for the food by the way. It was delicious. One of the best meals I’ve had in a long time,” he said, grinning at the girls.

Eren was sort of surprised at this. He couldn't imagine not being close with people you had grown up with. Mikasa frowned for a second but Hanji showed the most emotion out of all of them. "I'm sorry. Well, you're sort of stuck with us now, love. Better luck in the next life, hopefully," she said with a smile and a playful grin.

Levi nodded, with a brief look at Eren. “Yes, thankyou. That’s reminds me.” He paused, taking a breath. “Would you be expecting any kind of payment? I don’t have very much money at the moment if I’m honest, and I can always pay with labour, but im not particularly strong..” he rambled for a moment before trailing off. “Sorry..” he added quickly.

Mikasa straight up snorted at his comment. "Payment? Hon, does it look like we need payment. No, like Hanji said, you're stuck with us. You're our friend now. So good luck with that. It'll teach you never to bump into overly friendly strangers with even stranger creatures hidden in their pockets. You'll regret it soon enough," she said with a laugh at the end. It was clear she was joking around.

He smiled, looking down, a little ashamed to have even brought it up. He looked up at Eren, and bit his lip gently. He was unsure of what to say. It was ironic really, he was usually so confident and smooth, it was like a different person. He thought back to the garden and Immediately felt more relaxed. It was so pretty there. All of the animals, and the merman. Besides, he was still curious about the forbidden corner.

Soon enough the others finished with dinner. Mikasa looked around the table. "Alright, let's clean up and then we can head to town, yes?" she says. She stood up and began collecting the plates and cups. She put them in the sink and then went over to getting the soap and water to clean the table. She left them by the table and looked to Eren expectantly. Eren sighed. With a wave of his hand the towel was cleaning the table and the brush and sponge began washing the dishes. It was like the places was being cleaned by ghosts. It was only magic.

“Hey.. uh.. what do I do about the guffle? I don’t want it to cry again?” He asked Eren. The animal was still asleep, content in his lap. He ran a hand through his hair, blinking a little. He thought back to Mikasa asking him about heterochromia earlier. Levi brushed the though off and looked up at Eren helplessly.

Eren smiled at him. "Just put it in your pocket," he said.

Levi did as Eren said, making sure the animal was comfortable before standing up. 

Eren stood up and, with a snap of his fingers, the broom began sweeping. Hanji looked at him and glared. "You're just showing off. You don't do any chores when he's not around," she said.

"is there anything i can do to help?" Levi asked, smiling earnestly at Eren. he didn't know any magic, but he did know how to wash dishes and other housework. Levi grinned at the thought of going to the town, he was very excited. he was hoping it would be just as picturesque as the house, if not more. his eyes (now blue again) glinted with excited glee.

Eren shook his head. "No, I've got it covered. When we get back I'll show you around the garden. It's beautiful in the southeast corner," he said. Hanji gave him a look but dropped it. Eren never invited anyone in the southern half of the garden. 

His stomach flipped at the thought of going into the garden again, it was most definitely his favourite place in the world, aside from apparently next to Eren.

Mikasa walked out of the kitchen and down to the entry hall. She picked her cloak off the hook by the door. Hanji followed after her and did the same. Eren took Levi's hand and rushed after them. 

Levi was slightly taken aback by the grasping of his hand, but he squeezed the hold even so, flashing a smile at Eren.  
He looked into his pocket, checking to see if the guffle was okay. It was still sleeping soundly, which he was grateful for because he really didn’t want it jumping out at any point.


	5. The pub and the prophecy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Carved from stone  
> Of fires from old  
> Brought to the Garden  
> Of the Healers home
> 
> "Daughter of Knowledge  
> Shall see the end  
> If Friendships choose  
> Not to mend
> 
> "When Hell rises  
> From his endless sleep  
> It shall cause the gods  
> To weep and weep
> 
> "Only if Perfection  
> Decides to fight  
> Will Life preserve  
> And show it's might," Annie recited from memory. She grinned at them. "Lovely isn't it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooo I really like this chapter. The updates will be slower from now on though because not many people actually read this so I might as well slow it down a bit. I’m really enjoying writing it. 
> 
> Anyways comment pleaseeeee  
> Enjoy!!

5

Eren picked out a midnight blue cloak with golden runes on the sides and handed it to Levi. He himself put on a black cloak with a golden rim. Mikasa looked at the two of them. She rolled her eyes. "Eren, you know what happens when people wear that cloak. It was a gift from Aphrodite to Carla. You need to be more careful handing it out. It's bound to attract attention," she said, looking sternly at him like a mother. 

Eren rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It's fine, mom."

Levi blushed a little, embarrassed. “I don’t have to wear a cloak if you don’t want me to,” he said, holding it instead of putting it on, hesitant due to Mikasa’s comment.   
He smiled awkwardly, unsure about what to do. He didn’t want to wear it if Mikasa didn’t think it was a good idea, he would be fine without.

Eren stomped his foot like a toddler throwing a tantrum. He turned to Levi. "Put it on. It's fine. Mikasa will just be jealous because if we're going to the pub, Annie will be all over you and Mikasa has it bad for her."

"I do not!"

Hanji scoffed. "Come on, Mika. You love Annie and she loves you. You two need to get together. It's honestly sad."

Mikasa rolled her eyes and turned to the door. "Let's just get going."

Levi swung on the cloak around his shoulders, keeping silent. He smiled a little, it was quite endearing how they bickered amongst themselves.   
He grinned at Mikasa, hoping she wasn’t too offended by him. He honestly didn’t mean to piss her off, he only meant well, especially because he was trying to be less obnoxious, and more of a people pleaser.

Mikasa looked at Levi and rolled her eyes. "Can you believe these guys. I do not like Annie. Besides, I will always outshine you," she said, laughing after it to show it was a joke. Eren chuckled and Hanji let out a bubbly giggle. Mikasa turned on her heal. "Let's go," she said with a smile.

He grinned, and nodded. “You’re right.” He said. He followed them out the door, and looked back at the cottage, still in awe about how small it looked from the outside, when it couldn’t be further from it. He was still so impressed by the magical powers that the three all held as a group. It was incredible, still, especially to Levi who had next to no magical experience previously.

Outside was the forest, lit up by floating with orbs of harmless fire. It was beautiful. Everything looked enchanted and magical. Even the trees that were perfectly normal when they arrived. The river was flowing steading, glowing blue and silver fish swam through it peacefully.

"Alright," Mikasa started. "Are we walking or flying?"

Levi stiffened his grip on Eren’s hand a little at the mention of flying. The disastrous events of the morning came flooding back and his stomach turned a little. If they flew, he was hoping it would be a much more pleasant experience. Of course, he was still a little nervous. It’s not like he had ever flown much, even in an airplane. Between islands in Greece, you took a boat or you didn’t bother going.

Eren noticed the tightened grip, but he really wanted to show Levi how fun flying was. "Let's fly!" he said with a smile. Mikasa raised an eyebrow, but nodded. Hanji and Mikasa took pins out of their hair. The golden pins grew until they were broom. Hanji's was pitch black, while Mikasa's was more simple and just a normal broomstick. Eren removed a pin from his hat, a large rimmed, round sunhat looking thing, dark back with a purple ribbon. It grew into an obsidian black broomstick wrapped in golden vines. He turned to Levi. "You can ride with me!"

Levi’s stomach churned, and he smiled nervously and nodded. He trusted Eren at this point, but he didn’t trust him not to mess with him as a joke, so he was nervous. He was also excited about the prospect of flying. 

“What do I do..” he whispered, completely clueless. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself at all. He was still gripping Eren’s hand, before realising that he should probably let go because Eren might need both hands to fly.

Eren held the broom out and released it, leaving it to hover in the air. He swung his leg over the side and sat comfortably on it. "Take a seat behind me, and wrap your arms around my waist. Hold on tightly," he said. Hanji and Mikasa were already on and flying in circles around the two guys. "C'mon guys! We've got to get there in time for the show!" Hanji called down to them.

Levi climbed on awkwardly, Wrapping his arms around Eren loosely, hesitant. He didn’t know how tight he really meant, leaning his chin on Eren’s back just under his shoulder. “Is it fast,” he whispered, trying to not think about how high they would be going: it was unsafe really.

Eren scoffed. "Tighter," He said as the broom shot into the air until it was above the trees. In the distance, the city could be seen. It was sort of peaceful looking from there. On the other side of the forest, if you turned your head, there was a town that was lit up with fires and people.

Levi almost screamed as the broom sped up, and his grip around Eren tightened enormously. He was flat against his back, clutching on for dear life. His eyes were shut tight, knowing that if he looked down he would probably fall off.   
Of course, that didn’t stop the long string of expletives that escaped his lips, hopefully quiet enough not to be annoying.

Eren chuckled at Levi's reaction. "Open your eyes, Levi. See the world below. It's so beautiful," he whispered, letting his voice be carried off in the wind. He glanced at the two girls. "We'll go slower now than we usually do. It's a nice night. Let's enjoy the air," he said. He leaned forward ever so slightly and they began moving. It was too fast. It was like driving down a highway with no traffic.

He squeezed possibly even tighter, gritting his teeth. He opened his eyes and let out a small squeal-y noise.   
“Can we slow down a little..” he mumbled, a little dazed by it all. Eren was right about the view being pretty, but Levi was more focused on the fact that they were like 400 feet up, if not more.

Eren nodded his head and slowed his broom a little bit, Hanji and Mikasa were still racing along on theirs. At one point Hanji stood up on hers and rode it like a surf board.   
Soon enough they were at the edge of the town. Smells wafted through the air and music from so many different areas rang out. It was beautiful and excitement rolled off of eren in waves. He landed the broom after Mikasa and Hanji, who jumped off of hers.

Eren hopped off as well, taking Levi’s hand as he too dismounted with as much grace as he could muster. He stumbled a bit on his landing but was otherwise good. The broom hopped into the air, shrunk into a pin, and fell into the palm of Eren's hand. He attached it back to his hat and looked at Levi. 

"First is the pub. We need to check up on the town gossip. See what's been going on. Then we can go to the theater house. They're putting on a play. Other than that we can do whatever," Hanji said.

Levi smiled. "that sounds amazing." he said, looking around at everything. it was such a pretty town, quiet and romantic. the entire place was gorgeous, much like everything he had seen that day so far. there were identical houses, all attatched by the sides. each one was as pretty as another, they were all made with dark wooden frames, contrasting with the gentle off white walls, illuminated by the soft glow of yellow lanterns hanging from every door. the cobble road stretched round the corner, and Levi could tell that most of the outside streets were probably identical to this one. it was cozy, without being too inclosed, and they could see the stars shining not far above them.

"its so pretty here," he breathed quietly. he almost asked why it was so quiet, but he knew that would change as they walked further in.

Eren noticed the quietness as well. He looked at Hanji and Mikasa. Mikasa shrugged her shoulders. Hanji looked at him and furrowed her eyebrows. "The pub," she said and began walking into the town. The other girl followed quickly behind her. Eren grabbed Levi's hand and walked after the girls. He was sort of on edge. "You'll love it," he whispered to him.

Levi gripped his hand gently, stumbling after Eren. he smiled. "i know i will," he said, looking around at the street as they walked. just like in the garden, he was looking around so quickly, his eyes flitting from place to place, trying to take everything in at once. briefly, the thought of his apartment occurred to him. the girls obviously thought he was staying with them long term, he wasnt so sure about Eren. he was sure, however that he had things that he needed to get before he could stay with him. especially because his landlord would be pissed about late rent.

Mikasa and Hanji led them through the streets of the town. It was relatively quiet. Some people looked at them through windows of colourful little shops and narrowed their eyes suspiciously. "Hanji, Mikasa, what do you think is going on?" Eren asked. Mikasa stopped in front of the pub. "Prophecy," was all she said before stepping in.

a girl was sitting at the bar as Sasha cleaned up. She had long blonde hair, tumbling down her back in waves. She turned her head to look at the new comers. "Jaegers, and.. someone new. Pleasure to have you here. I assume you already know what's going on?" she asked, her sharp blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

"No, we don't, Annie” Hanji respond.

Annie sighed sadly. "The gods have gone silent. I'm surprised you don't know, Mika."

Mikasa shook her head. "I've known they would soon enough. I just didn't know it would be so soon. Summer Solstice is right around the corner. They shouldn't be this quiet."

Levi stayed silent and stiff. All of the talk about the gods, was far beyond his comprehension, so he reflected the solemn mood in the air. He had expected a more lively atmosphere, but it was tense, one might say awkward even. He stuck close to eren’s side, fingers still entwined with his. He was glad of the cloak he had accepted, the pub seemed to be colder than the outside. He supposed it was just air conditioning. He looked down at the floor, not expecting much to happen.

a tall girl with scruffy brunette hair pulled into a high ponytail and a strong smell of beer and vinegar who adonis assumed to be Sasha grinned at the group and ushered them in. A short creature, about half of Eren's height, walked up to the group and grumbled a greeting. "Hello, Reiner- Bertolt not here tonight?" Eren said as he handed him his cloak. "Alright, I'll bite. What is this prophecy?" he asked. 

"Carved from stone  
Of fires from old  
Brought to the Garden  
Of the Healers home

"Daughter of Knowledge  
Shall see the end  
If Friendships choose  
Not to mend

"When Hell rises  
From his endless sleep  
It shall cause the gods  
To weep and weep

"Only if Perfection  
Decides to fight  
Will Life preserve  
And show it's might," Annie recited from memory. She grinned at them. "Lovely isn't it?"

From what Levi heard, it was a fancy bit of poetry. The last time he listened to poetry was when he was still in school. It was strange really. He knew prophecies existed, but usually they were just a scam from a junkie trying to get money from tourists on the Vegas strip.   
He looked up at Eren, who seemed focused. Levi wondered if he should have been focusing too, but even if he had been, he still would have been blinded to the meaning behind it. He really wasn’t as smart as he should be.   
He still hadn’t let go of Eren’s warm hand, but there weren’t any complaints on either end so he didn’t.

Mikasa sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked back at Eren, whose face was blank at the moment. She sighed again. "Do I seriously have to explain this to you?"

Eren nodded his head. "Yes, you do."

“Hera fuck. You are the healer, Eren. You are the healer with the fucking garden. Levi is literally perfection, especially in your eyes. Athena is my patron goddess, and Phylotes, the goddess of fucking friendship, is Hanji's patron goddess. This, Eren, is why we don't like having people over. Because the moment some asshole with the name Levi enters the garden, we're all fucked!" she exclaimed. That was the first time Mikasa had ever flipped out at him. Ever.

Levi jumped a little at her tone of voice. It was more aggressive than he had heard before from the calmer girl. He averted his gaze, and his ears burned with shame for something he didn’t even fully understand. He didn’t want to get inbetween them and make it worse, but perhaps that couldn’t be evaded from what Mikasa had said. His expression dulled . Whenever his father got mad, he would set his face to indifference so that he wouldn’t cause any more trouble by having his thoughts written on his face. It was completely blank, so much different to how Levi had looked around damien previously. He looked up at him, his eyes a little glossy.

Eren pulled Levi to his side and put an arm around his shoulder. He tried whispering something in his ear but his voice was carried away by a horn being blown. It was loud and sounded through the town. Outside, doors were slamming shut, lights were being turned off. From the other side of the town, screams echoed all around.   
Annie looked at the group. "Get behind the bar," she said sternly. She didn't even have to raise her voice. Mikasa and Hanji leapt over the bar and crouched down. Eren yanked Levi down behind the bar with him. He looked at him and kissed his cheek. "It'll be alright. I promise. Everything will be alright," he whispered over and over again.

Levi’s stomach dropped at the noises erupting all around. His mouth was dry. 

“What’s going on?” He whispered, his eyes round with confusion and filled with fear. His brows knitted in confusion and his eyes- which were now an exquisite shade of chartreuse- darted around.

“Eren..” he said quietly, linking his fingers with the other man’s again.

Eren just held him close. He didn't want to let go. He should've known this was coming. He should've known. He was brought back to the time his mothers came home from work and looked at Hanji, Eren, and Mika with such weary looks that Eren almost cried. That night, he heard his mothers talking to a stranger. He had assumed it was Carla’s Ex husband, but he should've known better. Grisha never really visited them. He still didn't know who it was. But the discussion was serious and his mothers had argued about it in the morning. He didn't remember what it was about until now. It had been about him.   
"Levi, my dear, it'll be alright. I promise. You just have to trust me."


	6. Blue light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi feels as useless as ever while Eren fights off the people in the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ones quite short but a lot happens. I’m on a really long flight today so if I finish all of the school work I’ve been procrastinating on for weeks, maybe I’ll finish editing the next chapter and you can have it when I get off the flight. Hmm. I don’t know. 
> 
> Let me know what you think so far in the comments :)

6

Levi nodded, his brows set into a slight frown. Whatever was going on, it certainly wasn’t good, but there was no use in him panicking about it. He couldn’t change what was going on, only comply with what Eren told him to do, and keep alert. He steadied his slightly shallow breathing, and looked over at Hanji and Mikasa to make sure they were okay, along with the Barkeepers. 

Eren had aquired a distant look upon his face, and his eyes were dark with deep thought.   
Levi was thankful, however for the verbal reassurance. It was comforting, more than just what he could tell himself.

Eren looked back to Levi. He tried staying grounded. He looked sort of young at the moment. Young and scared. It wasn't that his appearance had shifted, it was just sort of what was displayed. 

Eren hugged his knees to his chest. But the moment the door slammed open, he was up in a flash. He had taken something from his pocket, a crooked sort of stick. He pointed it at the people who just entered. His first instinct was automatically to protect Levi, though he wasn't sure why.

Levi cowered slightly behind Eren. He felt so helpless and useless, and from what he heard and could understand from the conversation earlier, this was partly his fault- even if he didn’t know why. He held on to the hem of the borrowed cloak he was wearing, lips parted in slight shock. He didn’t say anything for fear of being heard, even though he wanted to ask so many questions. His lower lip quivered, and he willed himself not to start crying.

A burst of white light filled the pub and Eren flew back into the shelves stocked with whiskey, wine, bear, rum, and a million other alcoholic beverages he didn't know the name of. He let out a string of curses and hopped right back up. His nose was bleeding and his hat was crooked. His hand was bent in an awkward, painful angle, but he looked alright other than that.

Levi had to lift his hands up, as shards of glass rained down.   
He looked up at Eren, who looked hurt. He wanted to help, but he seemed to have a a knack for making things worse. If he hadn’t stopped Eren from catching that creature, none of this would have ever happened. “Eren!” He yelped. His wrist looked like it was badly hurt. He looked over at Mikasa and Hanji, who looked like the were in defensive positions, but still mostly hidden from sight.

Mikasa slapped a hand over Levi’s mouth. "Shut the fuck up. They are here for you, Levi. He's protecting you. Don't give yourself away," she said sternly. It wasn't intended to make Levi feel like it was his fault. "He'll be alright. You have to calm down," she whispered softly.   
His breathing quick and shallow, Levi nodded, green eyes wide. His hair had fallen in front of them, shadowing the slope of his nose slightly. 

Eren threw curses and hexes and a couple dozen insults at them until finally there was a final flash of blue light. It filled the whole room and Mikasa covered Levi’s and her own eyes. There was a slam of the door. Eren slumped to the ground and wiped sweat off his forehead.

The moment Eren was back at their level, Levi crawled over to him, ignoring the glass shards on the floor and took his injured wrist in hand.   
“I’m so sorry,” he said, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “This is my fault,” he said, voice wobbling a bit.  
He lifted a hand to wipe the blood away from Eren’s upper lip, which was trailing steadily from his nose. “I’m so sorry,” Levi repeated, looking down at his knees, a small tear rolling down his cheek.

Eren leaned in and kissed the tear falling from Levi’s cheek. He then kissed his forehead and brushed the hair from his face. "it is not your fault. It was never your fault. Do you understand? I'll be alright. We'll be alright. I promise," he said softly.

Mikasa stood up from behind the bar and looked over at Levi and Eren. "Listen up, lovebirds, we've got to get back to the cottage. We'll stay there for the night, come back to town in the morning, and go from there."

The raven haired man nodded, his cheek hot where Eren had kissed it gently. he looked up at Mikasa as she spoke, nodding. he intended to ask them to explain some things to him when they got back, otherwise he would continue to fly blind-which obviously wasnt okay anymore. his stomach twisted with the thought of what was to come. hadn't Mikasa mentioned dying earlier? he didn't know if he was ready for that quite yet.

Eren helped Levi up and clutched him tightly to his chest. “its okay“ he whispered in Levi's ear. "It'll be alright." He pulled away slightly before taking his hand and turning to Mikasa, who was making out aggressively with Annie against the open door frame while Hanji not-so-subtly stalked them, eyeing Annie with what looked like jealousy. Mikasa turned to face them. "Alright, my little ducklings, I'm hyped up on adrenaline right now so let's leave before I murder each and every single one of you because of the bullshit you put me through. Not you, Levi love. You've done nothing wrong."

He leant into Eren's embrace, almost disappointed when he was to let go. Levi grinned at Mikasa. she seemed to have kept a level head on. "hey.. so i was wondering.." he paused. "i know it might not be the best time, but do you think we could make a quick trip to my apartment and back?" he mumbled.

Mikasa stared blankly at him for five seconds without moving a muscle, pulled Annie onto her lips again, and then looked back at Levi. "The world as we know it could end in less than two days and you want to take a trip to your apartment to do what? Collect clothes? Tell your landlord you might die in a week? No. We are going home, going to sleep, and you could say goodbye to your old life now in your prayer cause you are never getting that bitch back," she said.

He shrugged a little. he a bit taken aback by what she said, but he had a knack for ignoring important things, so he pushed thought of dying to the back of his mind. and ignored it. he gripped Eren's hand tighter. He thought about Petra, about how he would probably never see her again. he should warn her about the whole world ending thing. but he didnt even know where he would start with that.

They landed in front of the cottage and Hanji was the first one in the house. The second was Mikasa. However, Eren held Levi back. He looked firmly into his eyes. "I will make sure you stay alive," he promised. It wasn't even a suggestion, there was no room for debate. It was simply a fact he was stating, not allowing it to be anything less.

Levi nodded. he pulled him into a tight hug, furious that that was something they even had to establish. he leant his chin on Eren's shoulder, breathing gently against the other's neck. his eyes were watering a little, but he blinked it away, it would do no good to cry. he pulled away again, after a moment of bliss.

Far away from where they stood, trouble was brewing in Greece. Everyone could feel it. The locals were out far less. Even the tourists felt the negative energy. 

Somewhere in Santorini, a short red headed girl was running back to her villa, with news like no other. 

“Mammy!” She yelled, bursting through the grand double doors. He was hit by a blast of cool air, the air conditioning on full. 

“Mammy!” She shouted again, rushing into the kitchen, a wild grin on her face. 

“Levi has been told!” She practically shrieked. “The prophecy!” She whispered. She knew that her father could not hear what she was saying. Her father didn’t know anything about magic, let alone that his family possessed it.

The girl’s mother looked up. 

“It’s about time,” she remarked, concern broadcasted on her face. “Would you like me to make contact or do you want to do it, dear?” Kuchel Ackerman looked awfully calm for someone who’s son set in motion what could be the end of the world. 

The redhead, Petra, brightened a little. “I will, mammy.” She said, grinning. She understood what was going on perfectly fine, but that didn’t stop he from being excited to see Levi again. They hadn’t spoken in ages. 

She too, possessed magical abilities. She was able to communicate telepathically with people, however, she had yet to meet someone who could do it back, so usually it was a one sided message. Besides, she couldn’t do it much, it wore her out. 

She screwed up her face, shutting her eyes tight. Intense focus came over her. Levi was much farther away than anyone she had ever spoken to like this. She pictured his face in her mind, and imagined him receiving her exact message. She felt the strange zap, a tingling feeling all over her body, and knew the message had been sent successfully, if a little unclear. 

Her mother smiled, and Petra looked at her and nodded. Just as well. Her father had walked in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I’ve just realised how much shorter this one is compared to the others. Oh well I’ll get out another one definitely! 
> 
> Comment please?? :))


	7. Petra’s Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi receives Petra’s message, but is waylaid by trouble in the form of a demon of truth.. or lies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey!! I just got off my flight!! Thankfully I completed my school work and the newest chapter!!! So I thought I would be nice and get it out now while I wait for my taxi to arrive!
> 
> Leave me comments, they’re basically my life source ;P

7

Eren looked at Levi and stepped back a little bit. His face lit up. He didn't want to go back inside, so he wasn't going to. He could show Levi the lake outback. The lake out back with the creatures that sang and danced in circles and loved life. It was always Eren's favorite thing to watch. Everytime it never failed to bright his mood. He took Levi's hand and led him through the winding path to the back of the "small" cottage. 

There was a lake, quite a large one at that, in the middle of the backyard. The water seemed to be glowing blue and silver in the light of the moon. Eren had never before seen it like this. He was so excited. The cottage was reacting so well to Levi’s presence. But there was also something quite sad about it. Eren was remind that if he wasn't careful, he could lose all of his magical friends. Like the dragon that lived in the middle of the lake.

Inside the house was a different story. Mikasa was packing up bags. Most of it was dried fruit wrapped in parchment paper, coins, both local and foreign forms of currency, a map, and same weapons. Hanji watched her worriedly as she did this. "Mikasa, do we really need all of this?"

"Hanji, you have known me since forever. I always prepare just the right amount. I hope you didn't expect this quest to be easy."

"I didn't expect this quest to happen at all."

"Well, that was your very first mistake."

Levi followed him, eyes sparkling at the sight of the lake. It was unlike any body of water he had ever seen before. His smooth skin shone under the moonlight, and he looked over at Eren. Levi was overcome with a strong urge to kiss him. 

Before he could make a move however, he felt cold rush from head to toe, as if he had been drenched with water. It was the strangest thing he had ever felt, but he couldn’t think of anything but his sisters face. Her mouth started moving, and he was blinded to anything but her. “You need to come to back Greece.” She said. “Please,” 

Eren looked at him and almost shook him before he saw Levi's pretty blue eyes, which were glazed over and slightly brighter than usual. 

And then she was gone, and he was back with Eren, looking around with wide eyes. “What the fuck..” he mumbled.

When Levi came back to his senses Eren was almost right on his back, demanding answers to his questions. But he refrained. "So, uh, did you see anything?" he asked, shifting his feet a bit.

Levi blinked a little. “My sister..” he muttered. “She wants us.. me back in Greece.” He paused. “How did she even do that..” he thought aloud. He met eyes with Eren, puzzled.  
“I suppose we should probably go to Greece.” He muttered, a little put out by the thought of seeing his family.

Eren looked at him and grinned. "Greece is far away, but it's a brilliant place to start. Besides, it'd be cool to meet your family. Well, your sister at least. I assume she has powers. She might be a witch, or maybe just some one with a gist. If you trust her, I'm sure it'll be alright," Eren said with a smile, trying to reassure him.

Levi shrugged a little. “Sure. Whatever.” He muttered flatly, looking at the ground. He turned to walk back along the path into the cottage. The lake was beautiful, but his mind had now turned to other things. He wanted to know how his sister had done that. He wanted to know why she needed him in Greece. He huffed a little, looking back at Eren.

Petra had quickly left the room, grinning. She ran up the stairs, making as much noise as seemed possible. She felt so energised, way more so than usual. She burst into her brother’s room. 

“Hey!” Erwin snapped, glaring up at her. “Get out of my room,” he said, standing up to shove Petra back out. 

“He knows!” Petra declared, sitting down on her brother’s bed. “He’s coming home!” She said, beside herself with joy. Erwin shrugged a little.

Eren pouted. "No need to get all pissy with me. I did nothing wrong," he said as he started down the path. He walked past Levi and into the house. Mikasa and Hanji were sitting in a reading nook off the stairs, sort of floating in the air. They looked down at Eren as he entered. "How was the lake?" Mikasa asked.  
Eren only shrugged.

Levi followed him through, back inside. He could feel a headache coming on, the kind one gets in the back of the head. He was stood very still, Looking up at Mikasa and Hanji. He sighed a little.

“We have to go to Greece.” He said quietly, hoping they would be fine with leaving. He certainly didn’t want to go alone. Honestly, he was contemplating not going at all, ignoring Petras message. If it was so urgent, she could have at least told him why.

Hanji and Mikasa stood up and began walking down the stairs. They were walking side by side, perfectly in sync. Eren narrowed his eyes at them. They reached the bottom and walked towards the two men. "Why do we need to go to Greece?" they both said, perfectly in sync, their voices merging together. Eren put an arm across Levi's chest, pushing him pack slightly. "Who are you?" he asked.

Eren glared at Levi and signalled for him to be quiet. He turned to the girls, who began turning into some sort of sludge that formed together. It was terrifying, at least for Eren. It hurt seeing them melt into this monster of organs and black, gooey matter. But he tried to remind himself that this wasn't them. 'But it could be,' a small voice rang in the back of his mind. Those did look like their organs, not that Eren had seen too many of their vital organs, but they looked as if they would fit in their respective bodies. But it didn't matter what he told himself. It still hurt to see it happen. The voice that came was more of an inside voice. Eren didn't hear it exactly, but he knew what it was saying, even though it made no audible sound. He wondered if Levi could hear it. It was a demon. A real demon, not the ones from the Bible or children's books. It was a demon of truth. 

'Great,' Levi thought to himself. 

Truth demons were vague, as Truth often was. If it was not shared by more than two people, it was incredibly hard to understand it. It was even harder if the person didn't want to hear it. Truth demons often Turned into Liars. Those were the worst. Demons that looked so similar, but spouted misinformation.

'Or is this a Liar?' Eren second guessed himself.

Levi snapped his mouth shut, clenching his fists tight at his sides and watching in horror as the two girls reformed. It was possibly the strangest thing he had ever seen, and he was battling the urge to run out screaming. He averted his eyes from.. whatever it was, and instead looked at Eren. His eyes were on the thing, but Levi didn’t want to look back at it, heat creeping up the back of his neck. It was a strange feeling, like he wanted to fall to his knees and admit his darkest secrets, and yet he also wanted to sleep for a hundred years.

“Eren..” Levi hissed quietly, disobeying his instruction. “What the fuck?” He hissed, his eyes- which seemed to be wavering between a few different colours in his panic- turning back to the thing in front of them, which had now taken a more decisive shape. His stomach churned at the thought of Hanji and Mikasa- where were they?

Eren nearly clocked him in the head. He would have done it if it weren't for the fact that he was busy making the sign to ward of evil. He didn't know if it would work. Demons weren't always evil. Most demons were just societies rejects. Which is probably why these fellows were called the demons of Truth, while Liars were just called "Liars". No demon title. Eren didn't want to make it seem like the Truth was evil, but what else was he supposed to do? He needed this thing gone and Hanji and Mikasa back. And there were no spells, valid spells that weren't just theories, that could be rid of demons. Demons were sort of of just there. If they weren't inherently evil, the ward wouldn't do much. But it was worth a shot.

Levi shifted a little in place. It was obvious Eren was doing something important, and that Levi shouldn’t interrupt, but he hated feeling so useless. As soon as they had a moment, Levi had questions. He made a mental note to himself to ask Mikasa for a little advice in the field of combat against entities such as demons and the like, because at the moment, he was virtually clueless. He decided to shut his mouth and keep his head down and eyes to the floor. He didn’t want to offend anyone.

The demons just stayed there. Eren cursed under his breath and fought hard not to throw a hissy fit. "Do you need something?" he asked. The demon didn't move. Eren was trying to figure out why it wasn't telling them anything. Was it because they weren't open minded enough? Or because the truth wasn't known enough? Was Levi messing with this? Eren cast a quick, sort of not-so-nice glance at Levi, just in case that was it.

Levi was a little surprised to see Eren staring daggers at him. His thin brows knitted together, and his nose scrunched a little. He fought back the urge to say ‘what?’ In an indignant voice as he usually would. He widened his eyes a little, shrugging and gesturing to the demon in front of them, hoping that Eren would interpret his very vague signing as ‘what the fuck am I supposed to do?’ Instead of something else. Frustration flashed in his eyes, and he studied Eren’s face for any advice on what to do in a situation like this.

Eren looked at him and almost glared. Almost. "Oh? You want ME to deal with this? You think I can deal with it? Not everyone can fight your battles. Now, either be more open minded, or fuck off!" Eren said. He took the gesture as Levi wanting him to do everything. He also genuinely thought that Levi was the one keeping them from finding out. But his voice sounded more scared than mad. Like a kid screaming for a parent. The demon faded in and out, growing dimmer every second.

“Open minded?!” He echoed. “What do you mean more open minded? I don’t even know what that thing is! I mean, seriously,” he turned to the wavering demon, flashing a glare at Eren. open minded was not in his nature. he was closed off and private, and he liked his secrets to stay his secrets. just for a moment, he cleared his mind and focused on directing it towards the room in general.  
“Better?” He muttered, after opening his eyes and crossing his arms a little, attempting to make up for his brief vulnerability. He didn’t even know if it had made any difference, but it seemed like the demon was flickering in and out.

“no!” Eren shrieked, eyes wild. “if you weren’t here, this shit wouldn’t be happening!” Eren yelled, before slapping both hands over his mouth in shock. the instant the words left his mouth, the demon disappeared, and in its place were a drained looking Hanji and Mikasa, sat back to back in a puddle of sticky black stuff.

Levi flushed an angry red, but pushed his thoughts to the side as he rushed towards the two girls who looked worse for wear.

“Are you okay..” he mumbled awkwardly, concern in his eyes, though his face was still flat- without too much emotion. What Eren had said had hit home, and he was trying to hold it together so he didn’t yell at Eren in front of Hanji and Mikasa. They had been nothing but nice to them and they definitely didn’t need to hear their dispute. Eren had already disappeared into the kitchen, muttering something about making a healing brew and attempting to hide his reddened face. 

Mikasa looked up at him. She stood up and smiled tightly. "How are you, Levi? Are you hurt? Did Eren say anything bad? I swear if he did I'm going to chop his balls off," she said, her eyes fiery. Hanji put a hand on Mikasa’s wrist and pulled herself up, expression taut.

Levi shrugged. It wasn’t really that much of a big deal, he would just have to catch Eren to the side later and have... a conversation.

“I’m okay. Why are you even worrying about me? It’s yourselves you should be fretting about.” He said, attempting to fill his voice with a little more emotion than he was currently feeling. He wished he had stronger feelings than this. He just felt a bit empty.

“Anyways, Eren has gone to fetch something for you guys.. I don’t know what.” He added. “I’m sorry I’m not more useful to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowowow I guess a lots going on?? The next few will be very slow to come out unfortunately. I have a lot of important school work and my job is starting up again soon so I don’t have as much time to write and edit. Oh well.
> 
> Leave predictions on what’s going to happen in the comments below!!


	8. Christa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren tends to the sick and injured animals who take shelter in their house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooooo wow this is quick??? I know I said it would be a while til the next one but this one was nearly done anyways so I just finished it. Anyways, it doesn’t matter you’re gonna hate me for it anyways- good luck with the ending.   
> Anyways comment please please please!!

8 

Mikasa was not about to have someone fretting over her. That's just not the way she was. She hated people being worried for her. She absolutely hated it. It made her feel useless and just overall pretty sucky. "Levi, if you start fretting over me, I will disinherit you from my will. Do you understand?" Mikasa said, her eyes still warm and bright, but stern.

Hanji chuckled a bit a that. Mikasa's threats were usually more threatening if you knew her. They also tended to get a bit personal, so you had to be careful. 

Levi’s eyes widened slightly, amused. He couldn’t tell if she was serious or not, but assumed that she was- just in case. “I didn’t realise I was even in your will,” he chuckled- looking up to see Eren entering before averting his gaze again. He nodded a little to what the other had said. “What do you need me to do?” He asked, unable to muster a smile before meeting his eyes. He wanted to help in any way that he could, without getting in anyone’s way- and lets be honest, that seemed to be his speciality with this group.

Mikasa thought it was a silly thing for Levi to say. Of course he was in her will. Just because they had just met didn't mean they couldn't be close. Besides, in the unfortunate case that Mikasa was to die, there will be things Levi must inherit if he was going to survive the quest. It was very important. And Mikasa had been working on something special.

Eren walked back into the grand entrance carrying a bowl of the healing tea. He looked at Mikasa and Hanji and sighed. "We should get you two to the infirmary, yeah? There's more resources. And the Great Room is right next to it, conveniently," he said. 

The Great Room was where they would plan everything. It had all you needed to discuss both war and grocery shopping. They usually used it for discussing politics, since the room had an enchantment that made it impossible to get physically violent with one another.

Eren looked at Levi and his eyes softened. "You can follow us. When we get there, there will be many injured animals. Once Mikasa and Hanji are set, you and I will attend them. Let's go," he said.

He led them Through the house and down to a wing that Levi, and Mikasa for that matter, had never really been down. The infirmary was it's very own wing. It had rooms aplenty. Some doors were open, others were closed. The rooms all looked very different as they were created to be helpful in the rehabilitation process with these creatures. He led them down to the last room and opened the door. Inside, it looked like an actual normal hospital room. Sort of. Half of the room looked fully prepared to do an extensive surgical procedure on a human. And the other have looked like the ones you'd see if you were just visiting.

Levi followed him silently, looking around as they went. He knew the house was big, but this was on another level. He was impressed by it all, it was clean and professional- but not cold and uninviting like normal hospitals. He looked over at Eren, waiting for instructions. He didn’t want to do anything that would cause further problems, especially not with all of the things they already had on their plate. He looked over at Mikasa, smiling nervously, berating himself for not having more experience in this kind of thing.

Eren handed Mikasa and Hanji the tea as well as copper cups. He poured the tea into the cups and handed them to the two girls, who were sitting down on a bed, side by side. Mikasa looked at Eren with a cold glare. "Take Levi around the wing. Hanji and I will be alright," she said. Her voice left no room for disagreements, making Eren sigh. She could clearly tell something was up between the two, and it was left unspoken that she needed it sorted before she had to intervene. 

He took Levi's hand tightly in his and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Levi didn’t actively grip Eren’s hand, but it wasn’t exactly limp either. He shot another look at Hanji before they left the room, a weak smile. When the two men were in the hallway, Eren drew Levi into a hug. "I'm sorry I said what I said," he whispered softly.

Levi was startled by the hug, unsure wether he should hug the other man back or not.   
“It’s okay,” he said quietly, closing his eyes and breathing in slowly. Eren smelled of the outside, nothing that Levi could recognise specifically, but it was pleasant and he relaxed a little more.   
“I’m sorry for not knowing what to do.” He mumbled, his chin resting on Eren’s shoulder- slightly on his toes.

Eren smiled softly and just stayed there, hugging Levi. Out of the three of them, Eren had always been the best hugger. Mikasa usually hurt because her pockets were full- either that or her extreme physique had no hold, and Hanji was stick thin and wiry, so her hugs had little to offer really. But Eren's hugs were softer and he smelled like old spices, clean linens, and the forest. 

"Hush, you do perfectly fine," Eren said. He ran his fingers through Levi's black hair and, with a simple spell, put his hair back in place so it didn't look like a rats' nest with strands sticking to his forehead. "I'm sorry I dragged you away from your life."

Levi hesitantly hugged him back, burying his face more into the connection between Eren’s neck and shoulder, rising up a little more onto the balls of his feet. “It’s okay.” He replied. “There’s not much to speak of about that really.” He said flatly. “This is better.” He murmured, eyes still shut to anything around them. His mind turned to his family in Greece. They were waiting for them- at least, Petra was. He wasn’t sure about his other family members involvement. His mother was probably in on it. He wasn’t sure about Erwin or his father. In fact, his father probably didn’t know.

Eren nodded and kissed him on the cheek. Levi's cheeks were so soft. Eren placed his hand on it and rubbed his thumb over his high cheekbones. He pulled away a bit from the hug and pecked Levi's nose. "C'mon. We've got bandages to change.

Levi nodded with a small smile, his cheeks flushing a little, tinging his pale skin pink. He took Eren by the hand, squeezing it gently. “Lead the way,” he said happily. He knew that there was a lot to be worried about, but he was happy that they had made their peace.

Eren smiled at him softly. "Alright, you need to stand behind me and speak very, very softly. He gets scared easily. Don't make sudden movements. Alright?" Eren said softly, looking at Levi. He took his hand and, without hearing his answering, opened the door to a room. There were trees growing all over and flowers. There were squirels running about and playing. In the middle of the room was a small creature who looked like a child with added features. She had a bandage around her head, weaving in and out of her long blonde hair and was laying in the middle of the grass. Her head immediately lifted up when the two entered the room. "It's alright, Christa. This is a friend," Eren said, crouching down. His voice was impossibly soft and quiet, almost hard to hear.

Levi nodded, backing slightly behind Eren as he opened the door. The room was very pretty and rather calming and peaceful- he could understand why they used it for the injured animals.   
He smiled a little, looking nervously at Eren and imitating his actions, a little slower just in case. He fiddled with the hem of his shirt with his free hand, not looking into the creature’s eyes- he didn’t want to offend or frighten her. Biting his lip, he looked around the room a little more, his blue eyes drifting slowly from feature to feature.

Christa stood up and collapsed into Eren's arms. Eren began scolding her, something about not being able to stand up too quickly because of blood loss and vertigo. Christa just held onto Eren's hand and stumbled to Levi. "Hallo! I'm Christa!" Christa was short, about 3 feet tall, with pale skin with a pink tint to it and a shiny head of blonde locks. other than that, there was nothing that estranged her from a human girl- save for the tiny red horns poking through her hair.

“Hi!” Levi said quietly, smiling at her. “I’m Levi,” he added, amused. He flashed a glance at Eren, wondering what the aim they were trying to fulfill here was. “How are you? We’re here to help you with whatever you need,” he grinned, trying to come off as friendly and approachable as possible.

Christa giggled and tried running around the room, but Eren caught the Younger and lifted her up. "It's time to change your bandages, Christa. You need to settle down a bit, yeah?" Eren said softly. Eren was trying to model what he wanted Christa to do. He needed Levi to do the same. Youngers were imaginary friends that children made up. Well, they were imaginary friends, just more alive than adults thoughts. They were childish and almost constantly changing. The were so fickle with their actions. That's why you needed to be calm and quiet. They got spooked easily and their mood would quickly shift. They spent much of their lives with the child who they were born from, however they were gradually forgotten by the child as it grew. Eren found that a lot of Youngers suffered injuries during the process and he tried to make their exit from the world as possible. Christa’s child was a young girl named Ymir. She was only seven, a lot younger than when children normally forgot. However, special circumstances- a car crash resulting in a coma to be specific- meant the process was sped up. It broke Eren’s heart to know that it wasn’t just Christa who’s gentle innocence was being lost from the world. 

Levi modelled Eren’s actions carefully, not straying too far. He could tell that any slightly wrong move would change the dynamics of the situation. He smiled at Christa. Unbeknownst to him, his appearance has shifted slightly, barely noticeable unless you were looking for it, but it had become softer. The harsh angles of his jaw and his cheekbones had softened and a gentle hue of rose took over his complexion. His eyes were a darker blue, a less offensive gaze. It seemed to help the situation slightly.

It might have been why Christa trusted Levi so easily, other than the fact that children usually did trust others more easily. Eren's features weren't too soft. But he did have a slightly doll like appearance to his eyes and cheeks, which were a bit rosey naturally.

"Levi, love, can you get the bandages in the hollowed out part of the tree in the bottom right corner of the room, please?"

“Um.. yes of course,” he mumbled, blanking for a second at the nickname. He stood up slowly and made his way across the room to the aforementioned tree. He looked inside the little cubbyhole and took out the bandages. There were two types- one with sticky edges, and one without- so he grabbed both just in case.   
He wandered back towards them, before crouching down beside damien again.   
“I got both,” he said with a little shrug. “Do you need anything else?” He asked, wanting to help in anyway he could.

Eren shook his head, taking the bandage he needed and cutting it to the right length. He handed the rest back to Levi, already redressing the large gash on a fidgeting Christa’s face. 

Levi replaced the bandages back into the cubbyhole in the tree, looking around and the room again before wandering back over. Christa was now back to running around chasing the squirrels and various other woodland animals across the grass. 

Eren stood up, apparently having already said goodbye, and Levi gave a small wave. Eren grabbed him gently by the hand and led him out the room.

Almost the instant that the door shut behind them, a small animal sprinted round the corner, slamming hard into Eren’s leg. It was knocked onto its back, before pulling itself up and dusting itself off indignantly. It was only a foot tall, maybe not even. It was covered in short wiry fur, but other than that it was like a thin human child wrapped in green cloth. It had massive green eyes that took up most of its face and long spiky hair on its head. 

“Hey! Hanji and Mikasa sent me. They said Mike arrived.” The tiny creature practically shouted in an excited, but squeaky voice. Eren rolled his eyes a little, but he looked pleased. The two men made their way back down the same hallway, after the little creature ran off in the opposite direction, singing in a different language.

Eren tugged Levi by the hand all the way through the house to the front door, explaining to him on the way that Hanji and Mikasa were probably there with Mike- someone Levi previously hadn’t met. They turned the corner into the makeshift foyer, and they were there as predicted, with multiple bags, some hand held and a few slung on the girls’ shoulders. 

“Finally! We were wondering if you lovebirds had run off somewhere for a quickie.” Hanji said, and Mikasa snickered a little. “Anyways, where are we off to?” 

Levi blushed profusely at Hanji’s comment, his blue eyes wide and his face mortified.   
“We’re going to Santorini. Perissa to be exact.” He paused, thinking for a second. “We might want to lay low a bit. A lot of people know me. Luckily it’s not tourist season so it shouldn’t be too busy.”   
He bit his lip. He was hoping that they wouldn’t get there too early in the daytime, when the food markets were open. That was when it was most busy, and they would be more likely to be separated or get lost.

Eren smiled at Levi- he didn’t seem to react to Hanji’s comment. "It's alright. We've got a friend. Mike, isn't it? He has a thing with Hanji so we can usually ride with him for free. He said he'd stop by to get us. he's really cool. Though, he might make you a bit jumpy," Eren said. He turned to the door and grinned. "I know you're there."

Levi raised an eyebrow, with a small smile. He doubted at this point that anything would surprise him. He grinned at the thought of another new person. He was slowly becoming more used to meeting new people, and more sure of himself in front of them. 

As soon as Eren finished speaking, the door burst open and a man stood there. "Hello, my loves. Who is this darling boy?" he asked, looking to Levi.

“My names Levi,” he said, holding out at hand. “I’m Eren’s...” he trailed off, unsure how to refer to their relationship to other people. Nothing had been established and he didn’t want to go ahead and step too far. He blushed a little and looked at Eren with a smile.

Eren wrapped his arm around Levi's shoulders and pulled him closer, a smirk playing on his lips. "He's my roommate," Eren smirked. His voice when he said "roommate" sort of became more... Romantic? Lewd? Just... More?   
Mike let out a loud laugh- but it sounded slightly like a bark. Hanji had already attached herself to the man's side. Mike had an arm wrapped around her. Hanji and Mike had been on and off together for three years since Mike had captured them and brought them aboard on her air ship. They were head over heels in love, but kept taking breaks from each other due to their jobs. Eren was constantly making fun of them when Mike visited. 

"Levi, huh? Roommates? Hesitation? I sense some character development," Mike said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Levi grinned shyly, raising his eyebrows a bit.   
“We’ve all been going through a bit of character development recently,” he said with a small laugh. “I can’t speak for the others but I certainly have.” With a small laugh, he looked at the two, his eyes soft. They made a very cute couple. 

He elbowed Eren in the side and put on a pouty face, looking up at him. “Why aren’t we as cute as those two!” He whined, mocking jealously.

Hanji clung onto her 6 foot 7 boyfriend like a dwarf hugging a tree. She clung onto his jacket. 

Eren grinned looking down at Levi. "That's because You’re not a girl. And I’m not a pirate. Or the son of an elf and a mage. You should've dated a pirate. Not a healer," Eren said, smiling down at him. He didn't know when it got to this point. Maybe in the garden? Or the tavern? Or when he met the other creatures? But it happened. And Eren loved it.

Levi smirked a little, wrapping an arm around him. “I’m just messing with you, but I’m sure I’d make a very cute girl either way.” he paused, with a wink at Mikasa. Eren’s face flushed- seemingly at the thought of Levi as a girl. “we’re cuter than them anyways,” Levi added, smiling. 

“Oh is that so?” Mike raised his eyebrows, holding Hanji tighter. “I think you might be wrong on that one,” he said smugly. he knew his girlfriend was the cutest one in the world. 

Levi batted his (slightly longer now) lashes. “No comment.”

Eren smiled down at Levi and wrapped both his arms around his waist from behind and rested his chin on Levi's head. "Hmm... I have to say, Mike. I really don't see the appeal of dating my sister," he said with a huff.   
Mikasa just looked at the couples with a look of both elation and disgust. How she managed to do that was unclear. But she did. 

Mike shrugged. “That’s your problem then Damien, I personally think your sister is lovely.” he laughed. 

Hanji stuck her tongue out at Eren. "That's because you're a little shit. You only like pretty little models you get to annoy into bringing home!"

Levi’s mouth swung open in indignation, before he realised that it was a bit of a backhanded compliment so he shrugged instead.  
“I’ll have you know I came here of my own volition.” He said. 

Eren shook his head. "No, Levi is the cutest and you can't say anything against that or else I'm never helping you regrow an arm at two am," Eren said, holding his chin up and pulling Levi closer to his chest.   
Mikasa, the lonely single lesbian, scoffed. "I'm the cutest. Y'all aren't going to argue or I'll grind you up and eat you raw.”

“Anyways we shouldn’t be arguing about this. We’re all cute, yeah yeah.” He added with a smile.

“Now, I'm assuming your air ship is outside the house, Mike." Mikasa said before Eren could get another retort in. 

Mike nodded. “Yep! And it’s all set. Course steady for perissa. I have food and water and stuff.” he said, proudly, as if he was boasting about a child of his instead of an airship. He took Hanji’s hand, gripping it tightly, and tugging her gently outside, assuming the others would follow.   
The airship was an impressive piece of machinery. Part metal, part magic, as he liked to say a lot of the time.

Hanji clung onto his arm and skipped happily by his side. She climbed up and wrapped herself around Mike's back, riding like a little sloth. Mikasa followed behind and climbed on board. She curled up in a corner next to wooden boxes.   
Eren pulled Levi outside and closed the door, locking it tightly behind him. He heard noises coming from the bushes, but decided to ignore it. Probably just a pixie searching for some mischief. He pulled Levi on board and brought him to the edge, to look down as they floated away.

Levi laced their fingers together gently, looking around. He couldn’t tell where it was coming from but there was a gentle purple hue on the ship, casting a glow in their faces. The sky had begun to lighten with the promise of day, but the sun wasn’t yet peeking over the horizon. Mike grinned back at the group, stood in front of a large controls panel, various buttons and screens everywhere. “You all ready?” he asked, flicking switches as he spoke.

Eren was smiling, looking at Levi. He held him close and looked out over the edge. Everything was perfect as they were flying away. Until Eren's hand went slack, his face fell and his breathing stopped. He looked over the edge and screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hee hee told you you would hate me. 
> 
> Comment?


	9. the reason for their pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the cottage burns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry, it had to be done.

9 

Down below, the cottage was bursting with flames. Smoke rose up and some small, quiet screams could be heard. Orange flames licked the sides and the thatched sections of the roof were already falling in. 

Eren screamed as he leaned over the edge, vomiting up everything he had in his stomach. Tears ran violently down his face as he heaved. Mikasa turned to look at him and ran up to the edge. Her face was frozen and she couldn't speak. When Hanji noticed what was happing, she slumped into Mike’s arms and began sobbing quietly. That was it. Their home gone. 

It had begun.

Levi held Eren by the shoulders, rubbing small circles into them as tears of his own streamed down his cheeks. He was silent, shocked past the point of trying to speak. His stomach lurched too, at the though of all of the creatures who were currently inside. The garden, the infirmary, everything. His tears intensified at the thought of Christa, confused and scared, poor innocent Christa who had done nothing wrong. He silently thanked the gods for his tiny guffle still in his pocket. 

Mike held Hanji tight, stroking her hair, and whispering something unintelligible to her, eyes closed and a look of deep sadness on his face. After all, he visited often and she loved the house too.

Eren collapsed into Levi. He clung on tightly to him like a child holding his mother. He clutched him tightly, crying into his chest. His grip was tight and not very gentle. But how could he be gentle now? Why should he be? His infirmary was safe. Guarded by spells. His garden was protected as well. But his house! His bedroom! The animals that roamed about as they pleased! They could die!

Mikasa didn't have anyone to go to. She just sat down in a corner and brought her knees to her chest. All she could think about was the books. She should have put protective spells around her library. 

Hanji wept for her kitchen. All her herbs and spices. All her fresh bread.

Levi ran his fingers gently through Eren’s hair. “It’s okay.” He said quietly. He didn’t even know if Eren could hear him, he just hoped he was getting through somewhere.   
He held him close, humming a gentle lullaby to him as he stroked his hair, letting him cry as much as he needed. 

mike kissed the top of Hanji’s head over and over. he even asked Mikasa if she wanted to join the hug, though it was intimate between he and Hanji. She didn’t want to leave Mikasa to cry on her own.   
His stomach twisted, thinking about the future, when they would have to return to a pile of ashes. Try to rebuild what was long gone. he vowed to herself to be there to help when the time came.

Eren just stood up, grabbed Levi’s hand, and yanked him across the deck to a ladder that went down below. He brought him to a cot and laid down, pulling Levi to him. He cried into the male's neck, trying to catch his breath and failing repeatedly. "Please don't leave me. Please!" he begged softly.

Levi hummed softly, hoping that Eren found it at least a little comforting. He was a little taken aback by the desperation in Eren’s voice, but he sighed quietly. “I could never leave you,” he simply said wiping away some of the tears on Eren’s cheeks and kissing the places where they were gently. 

Eren looked up at Levi and whispered something softly under his breath, but it was incoherent. Nearly impossible to hear, let alone understand or make out. So he said it again.

"I love you, Levi. And I'm sorry I dragged you into this." He brought Levi’s face down to his and kissed his lips softly. Eren's lips were soft. Sort of like a girl's. He didn't know if it was alright with Levi first, but he hoped to Heaven that it was. 

Levi kissed him back, gently. He pulled away after a moment, looking into his eyes. “I love you too.” He paused, breathing quietly. “It’s not your fault. If I didn’t want to be here I wouldn’t.” He added, pressing his nose against Eren’s. Despite everything going on, a tiny smiled tugged at the corner of his lips, but he settled down with his head on Eren’s chest. 

Eren kissed his forehead and wrapped himself around Levi. He was still crying, but not as harshly. He didn't know what to do. He tried to focus on Levi with his head on his chest. He ran his fingers through the male's perfect hair. 

Levi played with the hem of Eren’s shirt, the quiet hum of the airships engine making him feel drowsy. He hummed the same gentle tune from earlier, it was one that his mother would sing when they were fretful babies. He couldn’t recall the words, but he knew the tune. 

Eren slowly fell asleep to the sound of Adonis's humming. He held the other close to him, trying to connect each piece of himself with Levi. His sleep was full of Nightmares.

Levi felt Eren’s breathing slow and level out, and he stopped humming. He was concerned for the fact the the other mans sleep seemed restless and violent, like he wasn’t actually sleeping.  
Even so, Levi drifted off with him, exhausted from the events of the last few days.

Hanji cuddled up on Mike’s lap and buried her face in his chest. She muffled out an apology, but made no move to remove herself.

Mikasa just unslung her bag and took out her books and notebooks. Looking down at them, she sighed.

Mike held Hanji loosely, chin resting on her head. “Don’t apologise, you’ve done nothing wrong.” he said, plaiting a few of the long strands of Hanji’s hair. he looked over at Mikasa, making sure she wasn’t feeling alone.   
he glanced at the control panel- it read that if he pushed the speed up a little, it would only take an hour or two to arrive and they could avoid the morning rush. he removed a hand from Hanji’s hair to slide a button on the panel, before it was right back in there.

Hanji leaned into Mike. “Mike, can you kiss me?" Hanji asked. Of course she was bringing up the first time they kissed. It had been messy. Hanji was a twenty one year old who had never kissed anyone before. She had been with multiple people. But she never kissed anyone and she didn't know how to do it so she ended up asking Mike to kiss her.

Mike nodded.  
“Of course I can,” he said, tilting Hanji’s face up but taking her chin between his fingers and placing a kiss on her cheek, on her forehead, on her nose, on her jaw and finally on her lips.

Hanji kissed back gently. Her lips tasted like strawberries. They always did. It was her signature homemade lip balm. 

Mikasa set out a candle and lit it. She began to pray quietly for the journey ahead and for her house.

Mike pulled away with a small, sympathetic smile. “I’m so sorry.” he whispered quietly.

Hanji shrugged a little, expressionless. “It’s fine. We can just rebuild it.” She muttered, her tears drying on her face. 

Mike nodded with a small smile, making a noise of affirmation. “Of course we can.” he replied, before kissing her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooo you get to meet Levi's family next chapter!! well, half of them. 
> 
> anyways leave feedback, pleaseeeeeeeeee!


	10. Λέβι? πώς μπορείς να είσαι σίγουρος?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They reach the town and Eren feels the burn of curious eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a little while. This is literally just a filler chapter, sorry, but it’s quite An important one so I guess that’s okay. It also short oops. I know what I want to happen I just don’t know how I want to get there. Anyways, let me know what you think because I think this chapter has a strange tone in comparison to the rest but it might just be my imagination? Idk. Comment,

10

Levi opened his eyes slowly, blinking a few times, trying to focus his blurry vision. His eyes felt sore, as if he’d been crying for a while. His mind was clouded with confusion and he shifted a little, eyes widening upon the realisation that he was, in fact, lying on a person. The events of the past twenty four hours came flooding back to him and he relaxed a little. 

“Eren.” He muttered, pushing himself up into a sitting position and flicking the stray hair out of his eyes. 

The brunet stirred, eyelashes fluttering, disturbing the fan over his tanned cheeks. His eyes opened into slits, a slither of stark green glaring- only until he realised that this wasn’t Mikasa coming to awaken him, but Levi. A small smile spread on his face as he woke up a little more. 

Eren looked around, brows knitting in confusion, before his face took on a look of realisation. 

“Levi... the house..” he said, eyes glistening again with threat of tears. 

“I know. Im sorry, Eren. We can rebuild it, right?” The petite man replied, his own eyes glassy. 

Eren shrugged a little. Of course they could rebuild it. It wouldn’t be the same though.   
He sat up too, swinging his legs over the side of the creaky bed. His neck ached intensely- that could be written up to the cheap mattress and the metal bed frame- not to mention it wasn’t quite tall enough for him to sleep comfortably. He stood up, looking down at Levi. 

“I’m going to go find Mikasa and y’all to her about the journey ahead. We’re going to arrive soon I would say.”   
He said, expression hard. 

Levi was a little taken aback by Eren’s sudden change in demeanour, but he shook it off a little. He followed the brunet up to the main deck. Mike was talking to someone through a microphone that wrapped around his ear and toward his mouth. Hanji has seemingly fallen asleep on his lap, head resting in the crook of his shoulder- a thin trail of dribble tracked down her chin. Mikasa was sat on a small wooden crate, reading from a leather bound diary, sucking on the end of a feather quill. Every so often she flicked a strand of her fringe out of her eyes. 

Levi stood at the edge of the ship. It was obviously the entrance used for loading cargo- a wide opening in the back of the ship with no glass to stop anyone falling. He looked out and was surprised to see the blue sea below them. They had only been travelling for a few hours and it was impressive they had made it so far. He ran over to the other end- where the big window sat above the control panel, eyes searching the horizon. There was land- many islands dotted about in the waters.

Levi looked over at mike, pointing at it desperately.

“Is that Greece?!” He said breathlessly, eyes wide. He couldn’t help but feel a small rush of excitement at being home soon. Mike gave a small nod of affirmation, obviously listening to someone talking through the comm. 

At the speed they were moving, it would only take about twenty minutes to arrive, and Levi rushed over to Eren who was speaking quietly with Mikasa over by her crate. 

“We’re almost there!!” He gushed. Something had got him all hot and bothered (Eren) and had him acting like an excited puppy (Eren) and had him giggling and grinning all over the place (EREN).

Eren smiled at him with the softest eyes Levi had possibly ever seen. The brunet reached out to pull Levi against his chest, holding him tight in an embrace as he resumed the conversation with Mikasa.

Levi felt his cheeks heat up, inhaling the scent of Eren. He tuned in and out of the conversation- something about training. He felt himself drifting off into a dreamlike state. 

“Levi..”

The world came back into focus as he reawakened, blinking dumbly at Hanji’s kind brown eyes. She grinned when she saw that he was up, rubbing his shoulder gently. 

“We’re here!!” She screeched. He flinched- a little full on for someone who had just woke up. 

Mikasa nudged Hanji gently. “Shush Hanji.” She turned her steely grey eyes to Levi again. “We would have left you to sleep and Eren to carry you, but we actually need your help getting to your family’s house.” 

Levi nodded, already shifting to get off of Eren’s lap where he had seemingly moved in the last fifteen minutes.

Mike had landed them in a small grape field- one Levi recognised thankfully as a vineyard his parents bought from every so often. They all climbed out of the aircraft, Mike pausing to lock it with some sort of charm that settled on it like a thin purple film of glass. 

Levi’s expression hardened a little. If he was seen, he couldn’t run the risk of tarnishing the family name with a misplaced smile or laugh. He began walking out of the field, assuming the others were following. 

“We’ll walk into the town. We can pick up some food from the Market to bring home and then I guess I’ll take you there.” He said, to the group as they traipsed single file down a thin dirt track, lined with various dusty fruit bushes. 

It didn’t take the group long to reach the town- despite Eren’s complaints that it was too hot and Hanji’s shines from the back of the group about thirst.   
It was early in the morning- about nine- but the streets were busy as usual. Colourful houses lined each street, connected at the sides but still unique in their own ways. The paving was colourful too, a pretty mosaic of various stones. People had placed potted plants wherever they could, a little greenery- if a little wilted- touched the place up. Stray cats roamed around casually, and people milled about likewise. 

The background noise got gradually louder as they reached the town centre- a slow incline the entire time, but drastic enough that the four’s- (out of five) of the group who weren’t used to the climb- thighs were burning.   
The square was lined with various shops, a bakery, a florist, a butcher, a cafe. There was a small fountain in the middle streaming a thin spout of water. It was surrounded by market stalls- crowded by tourists and locals alike. Plenty of smells filled their noses as they neared- fish, meat, cheese, herbs, olives, fresh bread. 

Levi turned to them, eyes sharp and empty of emotion- a look they weren’t used to. “Don’t talk to anyone. We want to be quick here. I need to buy bread and feta cheese but that’s it.”   
He snapped at them. Though shocked by his tone, they all nodded in understanding. He handed a few coins to Mikasa, and she went off in search of the cheese with Hanji and mike. Levi pulled Eren by the sleeve over to the Bread and narrowed his eyes at all the options on the vendors table. 

Eren placed his hands on Levi’s stiff shoulders, making the petite male jump and glare back at him before going back to scrutinising the bread. 

“ένα παραδοσιακό καρβέλι παρακαλώ. και ένα καρβέλι σύκων επίσης.” Levi said, refusing to meet the vendors eyes. Meeting people who spoke Greek was rare (even in Greece) but it was common knowledge that this was a very traditional village and so it was a safe bet that they would speak it. If not there was always Italian. Not that Levi could speak Italian. 

Eren grinned as he was passed two warm loaves of bread as Levi exchanged payment. 

As they were walking back to the designated meeting place, Eren got the distinct feeling that the whispering he could hear from all sides was directed at them. He heard the name Ackerman slip through in conversation every so often. He narrowed his eyes as his face heated up, but Levi didnt seem bothered- or he was hiding it well. Either way, Eren schooled his expression to be indifferent. Now he understood why Levi was so cold. 

Once the five had reunited, they began making their way out of the village- in the opposite direction this time. 

“Ugh Levi, why did your parents have to live at the top of a mountain” Hanji moaned from the back. 

Levi shot a sharp glare at her and shushed her quickly. At the mention of the name ‘Levi’ a woman with graying hair day on a doorstep perked up a little in curiosity. He rolled his eyes. These people would gossip about anything- especially if the name Ackerman was involved. He knew that simply his appearance in the market would fuel it for weeks. 

She quieted down after that. 

It was a good half an hour hike from there, spent mostly in silence, until they reached the edge of the village and Levi deemed it appropriate to talk again as they reach olive tree region. 

They found themselves in front of a large villa. It was very modern- grand looking- white and sharp against the muted browns and greens of the environment around it. The garden was very well kept and two flashy cars were parked outside. The whole scene screamed money, and Levi scowled at the floor.

Eren was surprise by Levi’s change of attitude. It was like one minute he was delighted by the thought of coming home and the next it was next to hell on his list of least favourite places. 

The small group shambled up the steps of the terrace style porch. 

A pale hand hovered over the door, poised to knock. 

And then he did.


	11. The Ackerman Residence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They look around the house. Also a little bit of action on the ereri front just saying. It’s kinda spicy ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay It’s a bit short but there’s a make out scene so don’t complain. There’s quite a lot of dialogue oops sorry not sorry. I feel like this is going downhill but bear with I promise with what I have planned it’ll be worth it

11

The imposing white door swung open.

“Levi!!!” It was like the collision with Eren all over again. A short red headed girl threw herself at the short male, knocking him right over and onto the wood of the tiled floor. 

“Goddammit Petra get off,” Levi snapped, hugging her even so. She was the only family member he had really missed since he left. 

“Don’t let Father hear you say that.” She said, grinning through gritted teeth. She stood up, pulling Levi up with her and smiling at the group of people stood before her. 

“Hi there! I’m Petra!” She sang, her bubbly voice loud and clear as she addressed the group, holding out a hand towards eren who was closest to her. 

“Hi.. I’m Eren Jaeger.” He said, taking her hand and shaking it a little. “This is Hanji, Mikasa and Mike.” He said, gesturing to each in turn. 

“Come in, come in!” Another female voice sounded from inside, presumably Levi’s mother. Levi had been awfully quiet since they had got to the house- since they had got to Greece really. 

The group filed in. The interior of the house was large and airy, a bright space decorated with aspects from both traditional Greek culture and modern, western designs. The hall was curved on one side where a staircase swept grandly from the floor, and on the opposite end stood a large archway into the kitchen. A small alcove under the stairs housed a coffee table and two olive green loveseats. Various photos and paintings adorned the walls, and the floor was panelled with dark wood to match the various pieces of furniture in the room. 

As they walked into the kitchen, Eren observed that it was decorated in much the same way- keeping with the white, dark wood, olive theme. He stopped to admire a family photo, Levi and Petra, the Dark haired lady who was his mother, a blond boy and a blond man who he assumed to be the father. He couldn’t help but notice that they all looked very stiff and uncomfortable. 

Shrugging it off, he smiled at the lady, who was embracing an uncomfortable looking Levi. 

“Hello, Mrs Ackerman.” Mikasa said, stepping forward slightly. The cool air filled the large room, doing nothing to help the awkward atmosphere. 

“Hello dear. It’s nice to meet you. None of that Mrs Ackerman stuff, please call me Kuchel.” She said warmly, grey eyes the same colour and shape as Levi’s. In Fact the two looked incredibly similar, their facial structure the same and matching features. “Now, I’m sure you had a long journey here. Petra, would you show them to their rooms we prepared?” 

The red headed girl- Petra- nodded vigorously, motioning for the five to follow, tugging Levi by the sleeve. He had a sour expression on his face. 

As they followed back into the hall, Eren noticed a door he hadn’t noticed before, beside the stairs. It was shut tight, and even had a lock on it- wether it was locked or not was to be debated.   
He shrugged it off as they all ascended the stairs, into another- more narrow- hall which was lined with a few doors. Petra pointed to the one directly on her right. 

“This is our parents’ wing. We’re not allowed down here. Got it?” She said firmly, her silly and carefree demeanour vanishing for a moment, until she registered their nods and the smile reappeared. She then pointed to the one directly on her left. 

“And this one is Erwin’s. We don’t go in there unless we wanna he yelled at. He’s all bark and no bite though so I wouldn’t worry as much.” She said with a ringing laugh, grinning triumphantly at the giggles that emerged from Hanji.   
Levi smiled to himself a little. He knew those two would get along like bread and butter. 

As they progressed down the hall a little further she pointed from left to right depending on the room. 

“Bathroom.” Left. “Spare room.” Right. “Snug.” Left. “Bathroom.” Left. They came to a stop. 

“Hanji and Mike, I assume you want to stick together?” At their nods of affirmation she pointed to a room on her left as she turned to face the group.   
“This room has both a double bed and a single in case you want to sleep separately. There’s an en suite bathroom. My room is next door if you need me for anything.”   
The two nodded and disappeared inside. 

“Mikasa, would you be okay sleeping in my room? We have spare rooms if you want one, but I haven’t made one up yet, and I have a spare bed.” 

Mikasa nodded with a smile. “That’s fine. We can go in now, I’m sure Levi will Settle Eren in well.” She said, wiggling her thin eyebrows at Petra. The redhead gave a squeal of laughter, pulling Mikasa into her room. Levi sighed a little, taking Eren by the sleeve, and pulling him a little way further down the hall. 

“This is my room.” He said, swinging open the door a little. “You can stay in that one,” he said flatly, pointing to the room across from it. 

“What if i dont want to?” Eren whispered with a small smirk, holding both of Levi’s cheeks and pulling him in for a small kiss. 

Levi pulled away a moment later, breathless. “Eren you little shit,” he muttered, pulling him in again, this time with more fire behind it. He backed the two of them into the room, closing the door, as Eren pushed him easily against the wall, kissing him with more force than before, devouring him as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks. The brunet pulled away, instead going for his jaw and neck, hot breath ghosting it as he kissed sloppily, all the while Levi panted and squirmed above him, cheeks red as anything. 

Eren sucked into the juncture between his neck and shoulder and graced slightly exposed collarbones with quickly reddening love bites. He hoisted Levi up, hands tight around his waist, as he trailed back up to his mouth. Levi whined quietly into the kiss, sloppy as it was, he seemed to be enjoying himself. 

“Eren,” Levi moaned into the other’s mouth, hand tangled into chocolate hair and pulling at the fabric of his shirt on his back. Eren pushed him over to Levi’s queen sized bed, shoving him as rough as he dared onto it, before resuming the kiss, legs tangled and hands roaming.   
Levi whined quietly, as Eren dipped again to pay attention to his pale neck. Levi made all sorts of obscene sounds- obviously a sensitive area for him. 

“Woah. Maybe you guys shouldn’t share a room!” 

Eren almost fell off the bed in shock, as Levi sat bolt upright, smacking him in the forehead. 

“Petra!! Please don’t tell mother!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAHAHAHA THIS ONE IS SO SHORT 
> 
> Ksjdbdjsjks oh well lmk what you think in the comments?? Especially what you think is gonna happen later?? I wanna hear theories tbh


	12. Lunch, drama and tiddies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi and Eren are embarrassed, Kuchel is lovely, Erwin is a dick and Mikasa is clever clever clever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow my summaries are really going downhill. Anyways this one is slightly longer but there’s a lot of dialogue sorry. It’s a very important chapter, especially towards the end, even if it seems like a load of crack. Anyways, I hope you laugh. Also this one is completely unedited because I am hella lazy and Idc anymore because basically no one reads this shit

12

“Petra!! Please don’t tell mother!” Levi yelped, eyes wide and cheeks flushed in both embarrassment and shock. 

Petra was bent in half, jolting in fits of giggles, barely able to breathe between her laughter. Eren was silent, mouth wide open and cheeks a similar shade to Levi’s. One hand was still resting on Levi’s chest, and the other on his forehead, which had also reddened due to the force with which Levi had head butted him. 

“It’s just-“ Petra cried between fits of laughter. “You were-“ she is cut off by more hysterics. “So... loud!” She exclaimed before breaking off into yet more laughing. 

Levi looked mortified, but Eren however began to laugh aswell, looking back and forth between Petra and the other. Levi slapped Eren gently, smiling a little too. 

“Eren! Stop laughing! It’s not funny!” He said, even giggling a little.   
A few moments passed where the three of them laughed, Petra louder than the two still rather embarrassed boys, before another person stepped into the room. Hanji has heard all the commotion and decided to check it out. 

“Oooo!” She said in a sing song tone, taking in the scene of Eren on top of Levi, their faces red and expressions split with laughter. “What’s going on here? Petra catch you red handed getting busy?” She said, laughing aswell. 

Eren nodded, climbing off of Levi, rubbing his forehead a little.   
“Yeah. She did.” He said, awkwardly glancing at Levi, who still had a flustered expression. 

“Wow! You really did get busy, huh?” Hanji said, elbowing Petra a little. “Look at Levi’s neck,” the two girls burst into fresh bouts of laughter, at the sight of Levi’s pale neck littered with red and purple marks, varying in size and ranging from anywhere between his jaw and his semi-exposed collar bones. 

Levi reddened more at the comment, pulling a hand up to his mouth in a small effort to hide his shock and embarrassment. He slid off the bed and made his way over to the girls, shooing them out of his room awkwardly. 

“What? So you can just resume your make out session?” Petra mocked, before the door slammed behind them.   
There was a moment of silence. “Mother says lunch is in ten!” Before the laughing resumed and faded off down the hall, no doubt to tell mike and Mikasa about them. 

Eren snickered a little. Levi turned around to face him, face pink to his ears. 

“Shut up, Eren!” He snapped, brushing past him into the bathroom. He turned on the cold tap, splashing some on his face and a little on his neck. They were overreacting really, he told himself, there were only a few hickeys. Even so, he took out a concealer stick from the cupboard- an old one, unused by him in a long while- and applied it as evenly as possible over all of the red marks. It wasn’t as much coverage as he might have wanted, but it would have to do in order to try an avoid his mother’s questioning.

Slender arms snakes around his waist from behind, and a chin rested on the top of his head. Levi looked up, and in the mirror he saw Eren’s warm green eyes. 

“Hey,” the tanned man said in a soft tone, sensing that Levi was a little tense. “What’s up? You seemed to enjoy yourself earlier?” 

Levi nodded a little, relaxing into Eren’s embrace. His eyes closed and he smiled a little. “Yeah I did. It’s okay, my mother is going to be weird about it though.” 

Eren laughed a little. “We can deal with that, right?” His hands trailed up Levi’s waist to his shoulders, massaging them gently. Levi smiled. 

“Thankyou Eren. Let’s get down to lunch now. I’m starving.” He said, taking one of his hands and leading him back out the bathroom.   
Eren nodded, the two of them exiting the room and down the hall. They descended the stairs into the foyer, where Mikasa stood in rapt conversation with Levi’s mother. He could understand why they would get along. They were both strong, quiet women who looked after pretty much a whole family on their own. 

The two women looked up and Levi’s mother smiled radiantly. 

“Hello dears, lunch is on the table.”   
They filed into the kitchen. Petra and Hanji were already sat down, engaged in gossip, with mike close by- an amused expression on his face. Levi and Eren joined them at the table, though not before Kuchel snatched Levi up by the collar of his shirt. 

“And what is this here, young man?” She asked in a condescending tone, taking a wet rag from the kitchen counter and wiping the sloppily applied makeup off his neck. Levi reddened, pulling away from her grip. 

“Mother! Get off! It’s nothing” he yelped, eyes widened in the direction of Eren, begging for help. Eren snickered and shrugged derisively. 

“Levi Haedes Ackerman! Who defiled you like this?” She shrieked, trying to hold back her own laughter as she beheld the sight of her mortified sons face. It was Eren’s turn to redden, averting his gaze. 

“Eren! It was Eren!” Hanji chimed in, cackling along. 

“We caught them!” Petra added, struggling to breathe through laughter. 

Kuchel looked incredulously down at the pair, taking in turn Eren by the ear.   
“Have you been defacing my baby boy?” She said, her facade cracking a little as she began to laugh. 

“Mother!” Levi protested, yanking free of her grip and sitting down, coiling over in himself in embarrassment. She soon released Eren too and he sat down, a similar expression on his face as Levi.   
Kuchel laughed airily, placing the last few food items on the table as Hanji and Petra spurred on each others laughing, Mike and Mikasa sitting close by with bemused looks. 

“In my defence, Mrs Ackerman, I find your son to be an extremely attractive man, and I struggle to keep my hands off him, quite frankly.” Eren said, matter of factly. 

Even Kuchel seemed to be caught off guard by this as she stood by the sink, cogs turning in her mind as she tried to decipher what Eren had just stated.   
She smiled at him after a moment of the room’s silence. 

“That’s nice dear. Use protection.” 

Levi stared at his mother, mouth gaped open, seeming to have gone into a catatonic state of shock. Kuchel sat down at the large table, which was decked with all kinds of food for them to dig into. 

“If you think that’s funny wait until I tell you about the first time Levi brought a boy home. Stop laughing Petra, you were no better with Ilse Langnar last year.” The woman paused, smiling at all of them. “Please, eat. I know you’re all hungry. I wonder if Erwin will join us.” 

They all tucked into their food eagerly, chatter fading out in place of hungry kids eating their fill. 

a while passed, the room filled with quiet chatter, and the occasional ‘this is so good’, until someone appeared in the door way. it was the blond boy from in the family photo, obviously older as all the others were. He was tall, taller than all the other members of the family, and he had broad shoulders. the only things he had in common with levi was his blue eyes and his indifferent expression.  
most of the group looked up, and kuchel’s face split into a smile. 

“hi, dear. come get some lunch.” 

the blond, presumably Erwin, sat down between Levi and Erin, much to the two’s annoyance. Levi shot a death glare up at his brother, and Erwin looked down at him with an almost displeased expression. 

“nice to see you back, Levi,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “remind me, when you left, didn’t you say you would never come back?” 

levi’s eyes widened a little. it had obviously struck a nerve inside him. “shut up Erwin. as if you ever cared?”

“what was it you said? i dont need you? kiss my ass? or was it both?” Erwin sneered. 

“i said, shut up!” levi snapped, eyes flaring an angry violet, standing abruptly from the table and storming from the room. Even shot up a moment later, tearing off after him. Erwin looked indifferent, satisfied almost, tearing open a piece of bread to eat.

“levi, eren, come back!” kuchel called out, before glaring at erwin. “be nice to your brother,” she scolded, standing up slightly and giving him a slap round the back of the head. she sat back down, tucking stray hairs behind her hears as she did so.   
she looked over at her guests apologetically.   
“im very sorry on behalf of my eldest son, dears.” 

the meal resumed without further incident.   
they finished quickly, the remaining four expressing their gratitude towards kuchel’s food and hospitality. she nodded with a small shrug. 

“its no problem, lovelies.” she paused with a quick glance at the door. “besides, youre gonna need to put on a few pounds before the quest.” mikasa’s head shot up, and she looked shocked. 

“i didn’t realise you knew! i thought it was just petra!” she said, grey eyes wide with amazement. she already had a lot of respect for Kuchel, this was just more of a reason to be in awe. 

petra grinned, nodding. “nope! we all knew.. apart from levi,” she said with an awkward laugh. “oh!! and father. please dont talk about magic and the god in front of him.” she said, a look of dead seriousness overtaking the gentle smile from a moment before. 

the three guests nodded, eyes wide. 

a moment passed in awkward silence, before Erwin stood and left the room. no one made an effort to stop him. 

upstairs, levi had stomped his way upstairs and into a room on the right. it served as a sort of lounge, the snug that petra had mentioned earlier, and it was where levi would spend most of his time as a child. the walls were white, the floor dark wood and the two sofas green. his parents had decorated the whole house that way. there was a glass coffee table and one wall was covered in floor to ceiling bookshelves. there was a tv mounted on the wall opposing the sofas, and there was an alcove for the windowsill covered in cushions. 

the man in question had settled himself in said alcove, curling up and staring out the window into the back garden. 

the door widened, and eren’s concerned tan face appeared. 

“levi? are you okay?” he said quietly, making his way over to him, perching on the edge of the window sill and reaching out to brush levi’s hair out of his eyes. 

levi nodded a little. “yeah im fine. Wish I knew why Erwin is being such a dick though.” He muttered, not looking away from the window. “I don’t get it. I knew he didnt like me, i guess I just didn’t realise how much.” 

Eren shook his head. “I’m sure it’s different. He probably has a reason, and I’m sure he likes you. Do you want me to talk to him?” 

Levi shrugged, climbing over to Eren to dangle his legs over him, resting his head on Eren’s upper chest and wrapping his arms around his waist. 

The two of them sat like that, content in each others arms as soft music played in the back ground, ambient white noise. 

The door swung open again. 

“Hey lovebirds. Mika needs you downstairs. We’re gonna go through the plans now.” Hanji said, swinging her head in through the door. 

Moments later, they were in the room directly off of the kitchen, a sunroom of sorts- just well air conditioned. 

Mikasa was already there, sat with Petra on one of the sofas against one wall. They were going through a book of scribbled writing, talking quietly. Levi picked up the word ‘telepathy’ but nothing else. 

Petra looked up and smiled. 

Eren frowned a little. “Where did mike go?” 

“He was called back home, something about a deal? It’s fine, he’ll be back.” Hanji said with a light laugh. 

Mikasa grinned stiffly. “Yes well, we have things to be getting on with.” She paused, waiting for Eren’s full attention.   
“Levi I’ll start with you. You seem to be the only one who hasn’t noticed, but I might as well tell you because no one else has. Do you remember when I asked if you have heterochromia?” 

Levi looked puzzled but nodded. Realisation dawned on Eren’s face. Sure, he had noticed Levi’s subtle changes in appearance but he hadn’t realised- 

“You’re a shifter Levi. An appearance shifter to be exact. At the moment, it only happens when you’re feeling particularly strong emotions, however with practice you will be able to do more than just change eye colour. You will be able to do it at will, maybe even to other people within reason.” Mikasa said, ignoring the shock on Levi’s face. 

“What?” He said dumbly, not really taking it in. “Are you saying I can change what I look like on command?” 

She nodded, smiling calmly. She had explained it to Petra and Hanji in advance, hoping Eren has figured it out. However, it wasn’t shock spreading on Eren’s face, it was pure glee and mischief. 

The brunet nudged Levi in the ribs, snickering a bit. 

“You know what this means?”

“Uh.. what?”

“You could grow tits”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave comments ;)


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